Risk of Heart Attack Increases With Loss Of Loved One

Risk of Heart Attack Increases With Loss Of Loved One

A person's risk of suffering a heart attack increases by approximately 21 times in the first 24 hours after losing a loved one, according to a study lead by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

The study published January 9 online in the journal Circulation found the risk of heart attack remained eight times above normal during the first week, slowly declining, but remaining elevated for at least a month after the death of a loved one.

Lead author Elizabeth Mostofsky, MPH, ScD, a post-doctoral fellow in the cardiovascular epidemiological unit at BIDMC says, "Bereavement and grief are associated with increased feelings of depression, anxiety and anger, and those have been shown to be associated with increases in heart rate and blood pressure, and changes in the blood that make it more likely to clot, all of which can lead to a heart attack."

"So, emotional sense of the broken heart may actually lead to damage leading to a heart attack and a physical broken heart of a sort," says senior author Murray Mittleman, MD, DrPH, a physician in the Cardiovascular Institute, and director of BIDMC's cardiovascular epidemiological research program.

Mostofsky and Mittleman think that being aware of the heightened risk can go a long way toward "breaking the link between the loss of someone close and the heart attack."

Providing appropriate psychological interventions for someone who is grieving is important to help lessen the risk of heart attack.

Posted by George Daniels on Wednesday January 11 2012, 3:30 AM EDT. Ref: Elizabeth Mostofsky, MPH, et al. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0