FEATURE ARTICLE:

Yes, You Can Die Of A Broken Heart. Here’s How...

The term “dying of a broken heart” is all too familiar to us at Always Their Home Care. For years, our caregivers have been declaring that when a man dies and his long-term spouse dies shortly thereafter, she has died of a broken heart.

I never believed it, yet another caregiver myth. But this our saddest year, we saw more clients die than in all our previous 13 years. Combined. And no, none died of Covid.

There were similarities in those who die shortly after a spouse. They were happily married, had a rich and full life. The surviving spouse was involved in the care of the deceased. The death of the second spouse did not always occur instantly, but followed within a few weeks or months.

“They couldn’t live without each other” I heard over and over.

Then an amazing pair, my uncle and aunt, married 72 years, Joe and Mary Dot Klock.. beautiful, successful people, a large close, loving family. Joe, the patriarch died in August. His lovely wife, my mother’s best friend, my second mother after mine died, followed him in death in December.

I became a believer…..Once again, our caregivers are the teachers. But how likely is this? And is it medically possible to die this way?

Australian heart surgeon Nikki Stamp says yes, and the term — takotsubo — is named after a Japanese octopus pot. So, what is going on here? Broadly speaking, “heartbreak” is an emotional term that we attribute to the physical symptoms of being broken hearted. And that’s a wide spectrum.

“What we know is that for some people the stress of losing a loved one, or any kind of stressful event in your life, does precipitate many reactions in the physical body as well as in your mind that can cause disease and sometimes cause someone to pass away,” Dr. Stamp says.

Research also shows that in the first 30 days after a loved one dies, your risk of dying too is significantly increased. What physically happens in these cases?

It comes back to stress. And having a lot of it.

“What that does is increase your heart rate, blood pressure, makes your heart work faster, makes your blood sticky, ruins your immune system,” Dr. Stamp said. And, of course, you start to do those things that maybe aren’t so good for you, such as burying your emotions in comfort food or not exercising, not connecting with people.

“That’s really, really an important part of how you deal with stress. “It’s certainly something that we’re discovering more and more lately.”This doesn’t sound exactly like “dying of a broken heart’’ Well, hang on. While the stress of grief may bring on general health impacts, there is a legitimate and specific medical condition called “taktsubo cardiomyopathy” — or heartbreak syndrome — that doctors say is dying of a broken heart. But it’s incredibly rare.

“What happens is in an acutely stressful event … there is a massive rush of adrenaline and it causes something similar to a heart attack,” Dr. Stamp said. “When it comes to takotsubo, we do actually see all of the tests that point to a heart attack.

“When we look at their heart, look physically at an image of their heart, what you see is normally coronary arteries and this big blown-out heart.”\ Dr. Stamp said takotsubo is rare, usually affects post-menopausal women, and not everyone who suffers from it will die.

Is more research needed here? It’s happening, and researchers are changing the way we think about heartbreak in a medical sense.

“For example, in the last few years depression has come out as a stand-alone risk factor for heart disease,” Dr. Stamp said. There is also more research on how depression not only affects the onset of heart issues, but also how it can affect your recovery.

“Medicine in that regard is becoming a little bit more holistic,” Dr. Stamp said.

“We realize that disease doesn’t exist in a vacuum and that’s really, really important.”

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-08/heartbreak-syndrome-and-takotsubo-are-real-for-heart-disease/9523662 ■