A Death in the Family May Cause Real Heart Break

30 January 2012

A recent study shows that the risk of heart attack increases after the death of a loved one

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I’m SHIRLEY Griffith.

MARIO RITTER: And I’m Mario Ritter. Today, we tell about an American study of heart attack survivors. We tell about a scientist recognized for his work in plate tectonics. And we tell how modern-day musicians rated some of the most famous instruments ever made.

(MUSIC)

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Learning about the death of a loved one can be among life’s most stressful events. A recent study showed that the risk of heart attack increases in the days and hours after getting news of such a death. Researchers studied nearly two thousand heart attack survivors. The subjects were asked whether someone close to them had died in the six months before their heart attack.

Elizabeth Mostofsky is with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

ELIZABETH MOSTOFSKY: “We found that the risk of having a heart attack was twenty-one times higher in the day following the loss of a loved one, compared to other times. And that risk remained elevated in the subsequent days and weeks.”

MARIO RITTER: Elizabeth Mostofsky says earlier research explored the risk of dying from any cause over a year or more after the death of a husband, wife or child. The earlier research did not include the death of other close family members or friends.