Can you die of a broken heart? The science behind close couple deaths
Broken hearts aren’t just the things of cartoons. Doctors have found that a real-life broken heart can sometimes lead to serious cardiac consequences.
You know those heart-wrenching stories of couples that pass on within hours or days of each other? Some believe that the second spouse died of a broken heart — and, as it turns out, broken hearts aren't just the things of cartoons. Doctors have found that a real-life broken heart can sometimes lead to serious cardiac consequences.
Discovered by scientists in the 1990s, "broken heart syndrome" is trigged by the extreme stress one can experience following the loss of a loved one.
Linda Carroll of Today.com reports:
The death of a spouse can lead to a flood of stress hormones, including adrenaline, which can cause the left side of the heart to suddenly balloon in size. While the enlarged side struggles to pump, the right side keeps pumping sometimes with even more forceful contractions. The end result is something that looks very much like a heart attack from the outside, right down to the intense chest pain.
The difference between a broken heart and a heart attack is that most people can survive the cardiac event since there is no life-threatening blockage or clogged artery causing heart failure. However, the syndrome can be fatal among older generations, who may already be experiencing other health problems.
There are, however, a few other reasons behind the phenomenon of close couple deaths. Dr. David Casarett, medical director of hospice and palliative care at the University of Pennsylvania Health Care System, suspects that for some loved ones, once an ill spouse passes, the caregiver is too drained from years of tending and too depressed to go on.
"While it's scientifically interesting to think about the physiology of these deaths, it's also important to consider the social and cultural factors," Casarett told Carroll. "For example, there is the wife who says when her husband of 50 years dies, 'I'm not going to take care of myself anymore because it doesn't matter.' Those deaths are tragic because they are avoidable."
Read the full article on Today.com.