A person really can die of a broken heart, or at least the risk of a heart attack increases by roughly 21 times within 24 hours for a person who loses a loved one.
A study found that a person’s risk of heart attack remains elevated for at least a month after losing a loved one although the risk slowly declines as time passes. The study, which was published this month in Circulation, was conducted by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
“Some people would say a ‘broken heart’ related to the grief response is what leads to these physiologic changes,” Dr. Murray Mittleman, a physician at Beth Israel Deaconess’ CardioVascular Institute and the study’s senior author, said in a news release.
The researchers also noted that social support for someone during a grieving period may mitigate the risk of a heart attack.
