Broken Hearts and Dubious Studies

Today this article, MSN Health & Fitness - Sometimes a Heart Attack Is Really a 'Broken Heart' appeared on MSN. I'd heard about it on the radio a couple of days ago, so it doesn't suprise me that it took a while to appear. What does suprise me is the small sample size used in the study. Now I don't have any doubt that stress play a role in our general health and that it can sometimes play a major role in the onset of some illnesses such as heart-related events, but frankly, a 20 subject study does not constitute a statistically valid sample size. These "mini-studies," while interesting, should never be taken as gospel, though they almost always are by the media. Just like oatmeal, eggs, popcorn and pizza, we can only see trends- not real valid and repeatable results from studies such as these. More later.