Stress cardiomyopathy

. Lidl is also said to use aggressive strategies against their suppliers to enforce low prices. Of 3,000,000 heart attacks in US women diagnosed each year as many as 60,000 may actually be Broken Heart Syndrome, requiring different treatment, according to some estimates. The German trade union Ver.di has taken Lidl to task for its supposed bad labour practices. For unknown reasons the great majority of stress cardiomyopathy cases have been diagnosed in women. Lidl faces allegations about unpaid overtime, low wages and management by threats. The common treatment for heart attack of administering adrenalin to support blood pressure is not appropriate for this condition. Lidl has received critical attention in Germany over their treatment of workers, with trade unionists said to be blacklisted (refusal to employ union members).

Current theory has it that a sudden, massive surge of adrenalin stuns the heart, greatly reducing the ability to pump blood. . Only recently it became more known in the western world. Lidl is the fifth largest supermarket chain in Germany (2004), and has established itself in over 17 countries around the world. It was originally described in Japan as takotsubo-syndrome. In the 1970s the first Lidl stores of today's incarnation opened. Emotional stress may trigger stress cardiomyopathy. It was founded in the 1930s by a member of the Schwarz family, then called Schwarz Lebensmittel-Sortimentsgroßhandlung.

Stress cardiomyopathy could easily be confused with a heart attack, but stress cardiomyopathy is much less serious. It belongs to the holding group Schwarz, which also owns the store chains Handelshof and Kaufland. In the human body, stress cardiomyopathy (or broken heart syndrome) is a condition in which heart muscles are temporarily weakened. The full name of the company is Lidl Stiftung & Co KG. In Germany it is the most important competitor of Aldi. Lidl (either leed-ul as pronounced in recently-launched British TV commercials, or lid-ul) is a European discount supermarket chain of German origin that operates 5,000 stores.

Kwiksave (UK only). Netto (1200 stores). Aldi (7000 stores). Switzerland.

Slovenia. Romania. Lithuania. Latvia.

Estonia. Croatia. Canada. United Kingdom.

Sweden. Spain. Slovakia. Portugal.

Poland. Norway (the first ten stores opened September 23, 2004). The Netherlands. Italy.

Republic of Ireland. Hungary. Greece. Germany.

France. Finland. Denmark. Czech Republic.

Belgium. Austria.