A scientific study reported earlier this year in an American Heart Association journal confirms that the physical effect of grief truly can be a serious matter. In fact, according to a WebMD article:
Following the death of someone close, the researchers found that heart attack risk
- • was 21 times higher than normal within the first day;
- • was nearly six times higher than normal within the first week; [and]
- • steadily declined over the first month.
This risk needs to be studied further, researchers say, noting that heart attacks caused by grief are relatively rare in the overall population.
[They] theorize that the emotional stress of grief, including anger, anxiety, and depression, can take a toll on the heart ... And after losing someone they care about, people tend to sleep and eat less, and they may smoke more and forget to take their medication.
These are some of the reasons why people who are grieving are at a much higher risk for heart attack than usual.
"Friends and family of bereaved people should provide close support to help prevent such incidents, especially near the beginning of the grieving process," says researcher Elizabeth Mostofsky, ScD ... [of] the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
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