London - You really can die of a broken heart, scientists have announced. New research showed the risk of having heart failure or a stroke doubles in the first month after losing a loved one.
The findings add to growing evidence that bereavement doesn’t just increase the risk of depression and anxiety, but can weaken the body’s defences against all types of disease – from the common cold to cancer.
Doctors even call it broken heart syndrome, not least because you are six times more likely to die in the year after losing a loved one than at any other time.
The phenomenon explains why many widows and widowers die within a few months of their spouses.
The research is borne out of the deaths of many famous people following the loss of their partners: Singer Johnny Cash, died in 2003 aged 71 – ostensibly of complications related to diabetes – just four months after wife June.
There are many complex causes of broken heart syndrome, but the production of cortisol – a chemical released by the adrenal gland on top of the kidneys as part of our ‘fight or flight’ response to danger – is believed to be one of the biggest sources of problems.
The surge of cortisol increases the amount of sugar in the blood to help our muscles work faster. It gets more energy to the brain and speeds up wound repairs.
In evolutionary terms, that’s fine. But it’s less useful when facing long-term emotional distress.
Then, the hormone can build to harmful levels in the blood, affecting many parts of our bodies.
HAIR LOSS
Within weeks of losing a loved one, some women lose hair at an alarming rate.
Hair grows in a natural cycle. A strand typically grows from the scalp for three years before entering a “dormant” state for three months. It then falls out to make way for a new strand. At any one time, 10 percent of hairs are dormant, while in a typical day 30 to 150 fall out naturally.
High levels of cortisol can cause 30 percent or more of your hair to become dormant and, three months later, drop out, causing bald patches and thinning.
The good news is this condition, called telogen effluvium, usually cures itself. Within six months, hair should be growing normally.
COLDS AND FLU
Grief weakens the immune system, leaving us vulnerable to colds, flu, sore throats and tummy upsets. Again, the culprit is cortisol, which surges through our bodies when we are stressed to prepare us for a quick getaway from danger.
In order to give muscles and brain more energy, it diverts the body’s resources away from our immune systems. Over weeks and months, that can make us far more likely to fall ill.
According to researchers at the University of Birmingham, chronic severe stress makes us 20 percent more likely to pick up a viral infection.
And there’s a double whammy. Because cortisol suppresses the immune system, our bodies don’t respond properly to vaccinations.
That means your annual flu shot will be less likely to work if you have been recently bereaved – increasing the risk of getting an infection.
HEADACHES
Bereavement can trigger tension headaches – the so-called “stress headaches” regularly experienced by a third of adults.
The causes are not properly understood, but they are often linked to tight shoulder and neck muscles. Alongside dizziness, nausea, palpitations, stomach cramps and muscle aches, they are a common side-effect in people suffering intense emotional stress.
The symptoms are thought to be triggered by the release of cortisol and adrenalin into the bloodstream. Doctors say that even if a headache isn’t initially triggered by grief, any stress will exacerbate it.
ASTHMA
Any major stressful event, such as a bereavement, can trigger an asthma attack in people with the condition.
And bereavements may actually increase the risk of developing the disease in the first place.
Last year, a major study looked at the records of more than five million Swedish and Danish children born between 1977 and 2006. They found children who lost a parent or sibling before the age of 18 were 10 percent more likely to be hospitalised with asthma than children who were not bereaved.
Danish scientists who led the study believe the stress of bereavement may alter the immune system, increasing the risk of an asthma attack.
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
Not surprisingly, blood pressure usually soars in the first weeks after losing a loved one. That’s because stress hormones released in your bloodstream cause the heart to beat faster and blood vessels to narrow.
Doctors say the evidence of long-term effects of bereavement on blood pressure is not so clear.
However, a 1997 study of 150 American widows and widowers showed it remained high 25 months after the death of a spouse.
Studies of the families of dead soldiers have shown blood pressure is higher among bereaved relatives four years after death.
This could be linked to higher than normal levels of stress hormones, or it could be caused by destructive changes in lifestyle, such as smoking or drinking.
Higher blood pressure may not be a serious problem for fit, young people – but for those in middle or old age who may already be at risk, it could be enough to trigger heart attacks or a stroke.
INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE
Ulcerative colitis is a long-term inflammatory bowel disease caused by the inflammation of the large intestine, symptoms include diarrhoea, passing blood, stomach cramps and a frequent need to go to the toilet.
Its cause is unknown and there’s no cure. But the stress caused by bereavement can trigger relapses, or make symptoms worse.
CANCER
The immune system doesn’t just fight off bugs – it’s also crucial in defending against cancer. But high levels of cortisol triggered by bereavement can weaken the immune system.
Studies have shown that widowed women have fewer natural killer cells – the cells in the immune system that attack tumours.
A Swedish study in 2003 showed that women who had lost a husband were twice as likely to develop breast cancer as women who had not.
And a study of more than 6 000 Israeli families in 2000 suggested the incidence of cancer was higher in parents who lost an adult son in the Yom Kippur war.
However, Cancer Research UK says plenty of studies have shown the link is small or non-existent.
Teasing out the cause and effects of bereavement and cancer is tricky. Grieving mothers may be more likely to smoke, drink, do less exercise and overeat: factors that increase the risk of cancer.
MUSCLE PAIN AND BONE FRACTURES
Our bodies already lose muscle and bone as we age, and the grief of losing a loved one can make that loss even more severe.
Cortisol can reduce bone formation, leaving widows with more fragile, brittle bones.
Professor Janet Lord, an expert in immunity and bereavement at the University of Birmingham, says: “Bereavement can be accompanied by depression, and depressed people are less likely to be getting out, which can contribute to loss of muscles and bone.”
HEART DISEASE AND STROKE
The risks of a heart attack are 21 times higher in the 24 hours following the death of a spouse, according to a 2012 Harvard University study.
Within the first week of bereavement, widows are six times more likely to suffer than normal. The stress of losing a partner can raise heart rates, increase blood pressure and make blood stickier.
Sleep and appetite are disrupted, and people forget to take their regular medication – all increasing the dangers.
Studies have also shown that recently bereaved people suffer changes in their heart rhythms, which puts them at risk.
DIABETES
The loss of a loved one may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, the version of the disease that usually appears in middle age.
A Danish study in 2005 showed mothers who had lost a child in the previous 18 years were 41 percent more likely to end up being treated in hospital for diabetes than mothers who had not.
Scientists believe chronic high levels of cortisol damage the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin – the substance which controls blood sugar.
Complications of type 2 diabetes can be serious and include poor circulation, sight loss, heart or kidney disease and miscarriage. – Daily Mail