Research: Grief Increases Heart Attack, Stroke Risk

Grief can be debilitating and, according to recent research, dangerous. Risk of a heart attack or stroke increases during the 30 days following the death of a partner, at least for seniors, according to a study released in an edition of JAMA Internal Medicine.

Iain M. Carey, M.Sc., Ph.D., of St. George’s University of London, and colleagues compared the rate of heart attack or stroke in 30,447 patients (60 to 89 years of age) whose partner died to that of 83,588 individuals whose partners were still alive during the same period.

Fifty patients (0.16 percent) experienced a heart attack or stroke within 30 days of their partner’s death. In the control group 67 people (0.08 percent) suffered these events.

This increased risk of heart attack or stroke in bereaved men and women diminished after 30 days.

“We have described a marked increase in cardiovascular risk in the month after spousal bereavement, which seems likely to be the result of negative responses associated with acute grief,” the authors concluded.

Death of a spouse is a life-changing event. Encourage your loved one to to see her doctor and explain what’s happened and describe how she is feeling. The physician could recommend any number of treatments from counseling to medication.

For more information about the study, go to http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/tjnj-dop022414.php.