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ADVEReadNOWISEMENT
It might actually be possible to die of a broken heart, even years after the loss of a loved one, new research suggests.
Grief is a normal response to death, but for some bereaved people, it can cause serious physical and mental health problems in both the short- and long-term.
Now, a study has found that people who suffer from consistently high levels of intense grief are more likely to die within a decade of their closest loved ones.
A Danish research team spent a decade following more than 1,700 adults who had recently lost a partner, parent, or another close relative, dividing people into five groups based on the severity and consistency of their grief symptoms over time.
Over the 10-year period, people on the “high” grief trajectory – those with the longest-lasting, most intense grief – had a death rate that was 88 per cent higher than those with the lowest levels of grief symptoms, according to the study published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health.
Those in the high-grief group were also significantly more likely to be in therapy or taking antidepressant medicines more than three years after their loved one’s death. After seven years, those differences tapered off.
Researchers don’t yet know exactly why people hit hardest by grief were more likely to die in the next decade after their loved one’s death.
“We have previously found a connection between high grief symptom levels and higher rates of cardiovascular disease, mental health problems, and even suicide. But the association with mortality should be further investigated,” Mette Kjærgaard Nielsen, one of the study’s authors and a postdoctoral researcher at Aarhus University, said in a statement.
But she noted that people in the high-grief group tended to have lower education levels and take more mental health medicines before their loved one died.
That suggests “that they had signs of mental vulnerability which may cause greater distress on bereavement,” Nielsen said.
Overall, participants were aged 62 on average when the study began, meaning some of their health issues could also be explained by ageing. The majority were women.
The study was also small, with just 107 people in the high-grief group and 670 people in the low-grief group. Larger studies would be needed to confirm the findings.
But the study adds to a growing body of research on how emotional shocks affect our health. One such risk is takotsubo cardiomyopathy, commonly known as broken heart syndrome, because it is associated with stressful events like the death of a loved one.
It occurs when the heart temporarily enlarges and doesn’t pump well, causing heart failure that can be mistaken for a heart attack.
Women are more likely to suffer from broken heart syndrome, but men are more likely to die from the condition, according to a study published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Another study found that grieving adults are more likely to die from heart disease and suicide in the three years after their spouses die. Men are also more likely to die from digestive or respiratory issues.
Nielsen said the latest results could help doctors become more aware of the signs to look out for if a patient in mourning could be at risk of having their own health deteriorate.
“They can then offer these patients tailored follow-up in general practice, or refer them to a private-practice psychologist or secondary care,” Nielsen said.