Individuals may experience a heightened risk of heart attack following the death of a loved one, according to a new study. Mostofsky et al. (2012) conducted an analysis of heart attack patients from the Determinants of Myocardial Infarction Onset Study. Of the 1,985 participants, 270 (13.6%) reported the death of at least one significant person in the 6 months preceding heart attack symptom onset. Correspondingly, 19 experienced the death of a significant person within 24 hours of heart attack onset, 7 reported a death within 24 to 48 hours, 5 reported a death within 48 to 72 hours, and 4 reported a death within 4 to 7 days. Heart attack risk was elevated 21.1-fold (95% Ci-13.1-34.1) within 24 hours after the death of a loved one, particularly if participants reported the death as moderately or significantly meaningful. The risk declined each preceding day but remained significantly elevated for the following month.
Emotional stressors may be an important reason for the elevated risk. Episodes of anger, anxiety and depression in the 2 hours before heart attack onset resulted in a 2.3-fold, 1.6-fold and 4.33-fold risk, respectively. Reduced sleep time, reduced appetite, lower total cholesterol and lower-density lipoprotein levels, higher cortisol levels are all thought to be contributing factors.
During the bereavement period, people at risk for heart disease need to take particular caution. Based on their calculations, researchers predicted one excess heart attack per 3543 exposed individuals for those at low risk, compared with one excess heart attack per 1725 individuals at intermediate risk, and one excess heart attack per 815 individuals at high risk.
Dealing with the death of a loved one is always difficult. For patients at risk for heart disease, social support may be particularly important during this tumultuous time.
Have you ever had a heart attack? Help others by sharing your heart attack experience. Please take the Yale Heart Study Survey.
Perfect timing for this article, Megan. My mother died on February 21st, an event that then kickstarted two weeks of A. not wanting to get out of bed, and B. extreme ‘comfort food’ carb-cravings.
So not only was I not feeling even remotely motivated to do my regular daily exercise, but I was also eating foods that I’d normally never be buying, never mind eating.
I’m glad to report that I’m back to exercising and eating heart-smart meals again this week, but I can sure understand the complexities behind this study’s findings. As a heart attack survivor, I know that the next weeks and months ahead will be critically important to my heart health as well as my emotional/mental health.
I’d add “social support WHILE OUT WALKING” to these bereavement recommendations.
Regards,
C.
I’m sorry for your loss but glad to hear you are doing better, Carolyn! Achieving heart health is a process that requires time, attention, and effort!! Keep up the good work and thank you for your insightful comment.
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