Broken heart syndrome, also called stress-induced cardiomyopathy, typically occurs after a physically or emotionally traumatic event and mimics symptoms of a heart attack.

Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home last week in a gated community in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

But he theorizes that the couple may have both died from natural causes. “From the initial kind of circumstances, it seems like he may have collapsed,” he says. “He's got a history of heart ...