A study at St. George’s University of London finds that the impact of bereavement doubles the risk of having a heart or stroke attack among adults who are more than 60 years old.
The probability of having a heart attack doubled in the first 30 days after a partner’s death, especially seniors and are more likely to succumb to heart ailments, however the risk tails off after the passage of 30 days, the study says.
Grieving can be stressful and it could affect a person, both physically and mentally and anyone with devastated heart may refuse to take medication, either willingly or loss of interest.
In a statement, Dr Sunil Shah, senior lecturer in public health at St George’s University of London, said: “We often use the term a ‘broken heart’ to signify the pain of losing a loved one and our study shows that bereavement can have a direct effect on the health of the heart.”
16 per 10,000 seniors experienced heart attacks, compared to 8 per 10,000 of the normal population, according to the survey.
Bereavement affects the behavior of blood clotting, blood pressure becomes unstable, so do stress hormone levels and heart rate control. Subsequently, all these factors will heightened the risk of coronary failure.
This study helps us understand how to deal with the ones with cardiovascular disease and the psychological and social factors associated with it.
[Source: St. George’s, University of London]
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Interesting!
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Thanks! 🙂
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Reblogged this on Curiosity Killed Mankind.
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Reblogged this on Beinghumanish
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This is very interesting. I’m not really a senior, but have experienced a great loss. (My child). Though I am still standing, I feel a lot heavier mentally. I become angrier quicker, but at the same time try to focus on what should be beauty. I think once you suffer a significant loss, it changes you; mentally and physically and it’s not just seniors sadly. But on that note I have witnessed this with Grandparents one dies suddenly the others health dramatically declines, not an instant death but sudden strokes, falls, dementia, I’m guessing another way to put down as a slow and painful death. Thank you for sharing.
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I am truly sorry for your loss. You’re right, the pain of losing a loved one really changes the person and mostly results in mental and physical decline. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and hope you find a way to really live your life again, despite the great loss.
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Reblogged this on hocuspocus13.
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Reblogged this on Shining Star and commented:
Interesting
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Reblogged this on Strength and Sense.
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Yes, if they have a happy relationship, they are more likely to recover from the heart attack.
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No, it’s exactly opposite.The happier the relationship had been, the harder coping with pain of losing the partner becomes.Thank you. 😉
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Yep definitely, I’ve seen it and people/animals (common in animals who mate-join a family/other for life) who die of a broken heart. Stress and anxiety have so many physical effects that it’s so hard to fully comprehend.
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Reblogged this on Forget the Viagra, Pass Me a Carrot and commented:
Whilst I do not want to insert a sad note into Saturday morning, this blog was interesting. I have experienced grief and it was so important at the time to go through a process in the company of others. Being alone and facing this must be very much more difficult. And I wonder if the study was broken down into those who did struggle with the loss alone or as part of a family or with friends?
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No, it’s ok, you can share whatever you want, whether it’s sad or happy and yes, being with others through that hard time can sure help cope with the pain. Sorry you had to go through this, thank you for sharing. 😉
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My cat passed away one week after the death of my other cat. They were companions for 14 years.
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There’s a lot going on in their heart, too. Possibly, there are so many things we can learn from animals – they are the truehearted creatures, they have no hatred, ego, or any selfishness, while humans are the exact opposite.
Once I told a muslim friend if there’s such thing as Heaven, all dogs would go there. I was critically disgruntled by his answer – “All dogs will go to Hell”. That guy is not my friend anymore. 🙂
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very, very insightful & good. however, i think the real way one dies of a broken heart is one’s head becomes simply too heavy to lift off one’s pillow, and one does not make oneself lift that head off that pillow… one simply GIVES UP. which should never happen, but of course people do get tired after a long, long, long time of repeated broken heart-ness, or whatever the “proper” word for all that blather would be. you must forgive me. i have not yet gone to my favorite coffee place in all the known world, where mr. tristan harvey is the MANAGER.
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Yes, especially if one is predisposed to major depression. Of course this is more a hunch based on anecdotal evidence and my experience with anxiety. It exacerbates the problems that are already present.
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Yes, you are right. It indeed makes it harder to cope with pain of losing, thank you for sharing.
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Yes, exactly but sometimes it’s very hard to not give up after losing someone very special. People just stop fighting pain and let it overcome them ,they just don’t care if they should try to stay happy or let the pain win. Thanks.
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i know. the job is to find some reason to keep caring. for me, it was that my brother, whom i lost when he was only 37, would not want me to lose my love of life… he WANTED me to be happy!
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