These two simple activities can heal a broken heart — one is totally free

Feel free to cry over a pint of ice cream — but it’s not what’s going to mend your broken heart.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy — commonly known as broken heart syndrome — is a very real condition that is typically brought on by severe emotional distress, such as the loss of a loved one.

It’s not just about big feelings, though: It causes the heart muscle to change shape and weaken suddenly.

But a new study has confirmed two fairly simple things that can make an observable difference in patients’ hearts.

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Broken heart syndrome mimics the physical effects of a heart attack, including chest pain and shortness of breath, and can bring on symptoms of fatigue and heart failure.

Most concerning? Patients with broken heart syndrome face double the risk of early death.

“In takotsubo syndrome, there are serious effects on the heart, which may not return to normal,” said researcher Dr. David Gamble, a clinical lecturer in cardiology at the University of Aberdeen.

“We know that patients can be affected for the rest of their lives and that their long-term heart health is similar to people who have survived a heart attack.”

While women are known to more often suffer from the syndrome, men are the ones actually dying from it at more than twice the rate, according to a 2025 study.

Yet there’s hope for the heartbroken, as Gamble and his team have conducted the first randomized controlled trial and discovered two pathways to healing: therapy and exercise.

Gamble and his team revealed their heartwarming findings at the European Society of Cardiology annual congress in Madrid.

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Patients were randomly assigned to one of three treatment strategies: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), physical activity or standard care.

The CBT group participated in 12 weekly one-on-one sessions with a licensed therapist, with daily support also available.

The physical activity group completed a 12-week exercise course that included cycling, running, and swimming. These exercises gradually increased in frequency and intensity.

Using imaging that allowed researchers to study the patients’ hearts, they found that both the CBT and exercise groups experienced a significant increase in the amount of energy available to their hearts, enabling them to pump more effectively.

Researchers also measured walking distance and VO2 max, two primary indicators of cardiovascular health, before and after the intervention.

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In the CBT group, the average distance patients could walk in six minutes increased from 402 meters to 458 meters. In the exercise group, the average distance covered in six minutes increased from 457 meters to 528.

VO2 max, short for maximal oxygen consumption, measures how much oxygen the body can access during intense exercise. Among the CBT group, VO2 max increased by 15% and 18% in the exercise group.

There was no significant improvement among those who followed a standard care protocol.

“People may not be as surprised that an exercise program helped heart patients, but it is intriguing that this study also showed that cognitive behavioral therapy improved heart function and patients’ fitness,” said Dr. Sonya Babu-Narayan, a clinical director at the British Heart Foundation, which funded the trial.

Researchers are hopeful that these two accessible treatments could potentially reduce symptoms and mortality risk for those with broken heart syndrome.

Gamble believes these hopeful findings illustrate the importance of “the brain-heart axis.”

“It shows that cognitive behavioral therapy or exercise could help patients along the road to recovery. Both are very cost-effective interventions, and we hope that further studies could lead to them being used to help this underserved group.”