I saw this study linking grief with heart problems mentioned on both on Yahoo and the New York Times. It reminded me of a great TED talk by Helen Fisher you should check out.
A long-term study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association has confirmed what 16th century poets have known all along: heartbreak can be deadly.
Past studies have linked heart problems with the grieving period after a loved one dies. Japanese cardiologists first identified the phenomenon in 1990. This new report, however, suggests that a grieving person is 21 times more susceptible to a heart attack right after the death of a beloved.
Doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston tracked 2,000 heart attack patients over a period of five years. While they found that patients with a history of heart problems were more prone to attacks, even those with perfectly strong hearts were at risk for potentially deadly attacks in the immediate days after a close friend, partner or family member passed.
The risk is particularly great for women. A separate study, released in November, found that females are on average 7.5 times more likely than men to have a heart attack in the early stages of grieving. The number rises to 9.5 for women under 55. According to Dr. Abhiram Prasad, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist: “It’s the only cardiac condition where there’s such a female preponderance.” What they can’t understand is why women are more prone to the condition.
Born Curious 
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