Could a broken heart lead to death?

I think most of us in this room have suffered some type of heartbreaking moment, whether it’s to do with a bad breakup, a death of someone or something close to you (such as a pet). We all feel terrible after being put in this situation, a lot of us are familiar with the mental effects when dealing with a broken heart, such as depression, lack of appetite. I always wondered if there was a physical reaction to such a traumatic experience that wasn’t crying; well studies say it is actually very possible to die from a broken heart.

Stress induced cardiomyopathy also known as broken heart syndrome. This syndrome is described as being very similar to having a heart attack. This article breaks down what exactly happens when you have a broken heart. It’s quite interesting to know some of the symptoms/ reactions actually differ between men and women, as stated in the article women are more likely to experience chest pains it doesn’t explain why which would be an interesting topic to research.

Researchers from St George University in London did a study on bereavement causing cardiovascular problems they did an assessment on 60 year olds who had lost their partners and compared them with 60 year olds whose partners hadn’t died; this is what they found:

“In total, there were 30,447 individuals in the study whose partner died and 83,588 controls whose partners did not.The researchers found that 16 per 10,000 people whose partners died experienced heart attacks or strokes within 30 days of their partner dying, compared with only 8 per 10,000 from the control population.After 30 days, however, this increased risk began to fall in individuals who lost a loved one.”

In the article they also talk about how they found that grief affects blood clotting , blood pressure and heart rate control; but it was also noted that because patients were sad they forgot to take their medicine.

The data seems credible, but the study only took into consideration a small percentage of our population, what about other people? Does it affect us in the same way?

What do you guys think of this? And do you think you possibly suffered from this disease?

One thought on “Could a broken heart lead to death?

  1. Kristen Lauren Mckenzie

    Its so sad after a break up or a love one dies. But with me personally I always felt that it keeps me motivated when a love one died to achieve the goals I know they would be proud of . But I could 100% see why someone could go into cardiac arrest over a love one. The stats you gave us are astonishing even if its just a small percentage. I’m honestly surprised that the numbers are higher I think death has a big impact on everyone differently. But it happens to everyone you can’t run away from someone you know dying, its just a way of life. Even when you tell yourself that you know their gonna die there is no way to mentally prepare yourself and thats the worse part. Great blog!

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