Health

Losing a loved one can increase the risk of death


WOODrief can cause severe damage to a person’s health. Everyone is more likely to die while they are in mourning than in normal times, a phenomenon so well known that it has its own name in the scientific literature: “widow effect. That’s partly due to the negative changes that can affect the heart during times of mourning. Grief activates the nervous system, including the part that triggers the body’s “fight or flight” response — which, when overstimulated, occurs. link heart failure.

Now, one research published July 6 in JACC: Heart failure adds to the evidence that the loss of a loved one is not only painful but can be life-threatening. The researchers looked at health and family data from a national database for about 491,000 Swedish patients with heart failure between 1987 and 2018, who were followed for an average of about four years. . People who have lost a family member have a significantly higher risk of dying during that time period than those who have not, and the riskiest time by far is the week after the loss.

Most of these deaths are due to heart failure (although loss is most closely related to an increase in so-called “unnatural” deaths such as suicide). People are at higher risk of dying from heart failure when someone very close to them dies. The death of a spouse or partner increased the risk by 20%, child mortality by 10%, and sibling death by 13%, although the loss of a parent did not increase the risk of death. The risk was particularly high for those who suffered two losses during the period studied – the risk increased by 35%, compared with 28% for a single loss.

The first week after a loss is the most dangerous. During that time, those who lost a loved one had a 78% increased risk of dying from heart failure compared with those who did not grieve — and a 113% increased risk in the first week if the person lost a spouse or partner. . Study co-author Krisztina Laszlo, associate professor from the department of global public health at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, said: “When the shock is at its peak, we see a stronger impact. That’s squared with what other studies have found, says Dr. Gregg Fonarow, director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center (who was not involved in the study). “The risk of dying after losing a loved one is highest in the first few weeks and in the first year,” he said.

The researchers were somewhat surprised, says Laszlo, that the loss of a spouse appeared to have a larger impact than the loss of a child, although that may be due to the average age of those with dementia. heart rate in the study was 79, Laszlo said. “At this age, one doesn’t have such a large network, and if one loses their partner… that can affect the quality of life even more.”

Researchers have known for a long time that grief can cause physical changes to the heart. People who have been through a very stressful event – such as the loss of a spouse or partner – sometimes develop stress cardiomyopathy, also known as broken heart syndrome, or takotsubo cardiomyopathy. (“Takotsubo” is the Japanese word for octopus trap, heart shape Broken heart syndrome usually lasts only a short time, but it can cause symptoms similar to a heart attack, including chest pain and shortness of breath; part of the heart enlarges, and the heart pumps blood abnormally.

Laszlo says these negative changes—as well as others, such as grief affecting the nervous and neuroendocrine systems – may contribute to the increased mortality rates soon after the loss was identified in her study. After a loved one dies, people sometimes change their behavior, such as drinking more and exercising less, which can also increase mortality in grieving people, she said. more. However, although the scientists tried to control for confounding variables, the researchers could not completely rule out that something besides grief might be happening. For example, risk factors such as a poor diet tend to cluster in families.

However, Laszlo points to some indications in the data that grief plays a larger role, including the fact that more bereavement is associated with a higher risk of death. The researchers found that there was a link between grief and death even when family members died of unnatural causes.

Although this topic needs further research, this study should serve as a reminder to family members and health care providers that people Need more support after losing a loved one. Laszlo says: “Loss can have a profound effect on people. “Death is just the tip of the iceberg,” she said. “It signifies serious suffering.”

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