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Can you die of a broken heart?
The short answer is yes. Interesting information on this and women are more vulnerable then men. Several reports on this little realized problem.

[seattletimes.com]

[heart.org]

[chicagotribune.com]

JackPedigo 9 Feb 21
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0

Level 9

My personal take... I am not in the health business but seems to me more men commit suicide due a love failure than women do. Women cried it off... men don't seemed to do that. Me? I don't know... my heart is too protected, unaccessible and harden to happen to me. But you do can die. There is a movie... "lovers of the arctic circle" in which the guy mother died from a broken heart.... according to him in the story. Good date movie never the less. I never minded to be the exception to the rule in many things. And then again, there is somewhere a woman carrying on her purse a dagger with my name on it. And she can't wait to meet me. And yes, everything is like a joke to me including the effects of love.

I think with people it is a matter of one's experiences. I have had numerous relationships some didn't work out, some were okay and the last one was very successful. One's past can shape one's view of things.

@JackPedigo 100 % correct. I just don't commit to things like maybe other people do, example a tattoo for life on my skin... Nah Way!!! But I play the game and if it last forever... so be it... just as if it don't work out... so be it. But knowing what I know of myself say... I Will Not Die From A Broken Heart. The most they can get off me is a song or two, a few poems, no stress. But others? Yeah... I could see it. Yeah.
1

Level 6

There are many conditions in medicine which are known anecdotally to be related to emotional stress. Women who have been sexually abused are more likely to develop pelvic disease, of one sort or another. People who have been silenced sometimes develop throat ailments. Parkinson's disease, which stiffens the body and makes movement more difficult, seems to be related to having a rigid and inflexible personality. There are many more.Breast cancer is more common in women who live in an emotionally harsh environment. Type A executives get more heart attacks, etc. The whole mind-body connection is very real. If allopathic medicine did not insist on separating the mind from the body, we would have a much deeper understanding of these conditions than we do.

I totally agree. I well know the problems of stress. It seems to be behind a lot of problems. Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid it. Being on this site can even be stressful at times.
0

Level 9

My Mom almost died of Broken Heart Syndrome about 8 hours after my Dad passed (of a massive heart attack).

That would be in my worst days top ten list. (My parents always wanted to "go together" - they really loved each other). Probably explains my single status?

Same ER at 3 am and at 11 am.

She ended up with a heart arrhythmia for the last 5 years of her life. I could take her pulse and know she was in arrhythmia.

1

Level 8

A recent example Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.

1

Level 1

I lost my wife of 33 years last April. We were friends in High School and lovers soon after. It still hurts and I think about her every day, but as time goes on the pain slowly subsides. I live with my 24 year old son and we keep each other going. I'm becoming determined to enjoy life and not feel sorry for myself.

Condolences on your loss. Kudos on keeping going.
0

Level 8

I will say absolutely NOT. You might die WITH a broken heart but not FROM a broken heart. A broken heart might cause enough stress and pain in one's life that could create other issues that could lead to death (like heart failure) but it is NOT a broken heart that kills you. IMHO
I will use diabetes as an example. Diabetes is NOT a terminal or life threatening condition. I will over time cause other parts of your system to fail and you will die, but it is NOT the diabetes that kills you but the failure of other systems.

Broken Heart Syndrome is a real medical condition. Someone is under so much stress that their heart becomes at risk. I know it as a rapid condition. I remember when they covered this on the show "ER". - Not that they always got everything right. - Also happened to my Mom immediately after my Dad's death.

@RavenCT I believe it. I know having a broken heart causes health issues, mine are depression, high blood pressure. I don't speak to my son, his choice and it has caused a lot of sadness for me, on top of watching my mom suffer with dementia. I have never cried so much in my life.

@RavenCT That is exactly what I said.

@Presley1209 Please see your Dr and a good therapist if you aren't?

It's very hard when there are family issues. I know the ones I had impacted my health terribly. I wish I'd had more therapy then I did.

In my case it was an estranged nephew who assaulted me - I ended up prosecuting because someone needed to - to force help on him. (He's now my niece and we get along great. Anger management classes did wonders for her). I however still have PTSD issues. Now greatly lessened.

I still need anti depressants and the therapy I did have helped considerably. I felt like I was walking around without my skin on for a while.

@RavenCT I am seeing a Dr but not a therapist at this time. I need to tho I know. I was until I changed jobs and now no insurance. Yet more stress.

@Presley1209 You can call 211 or go to 211.org and see if there is free counseling in your area. Good luck!
3

Level 7

My ex in-laws... wow, hadn't thought of this in years. She died of lung cancer, slowly and painfully. One year to the day later, he died of a broken heart - we say "literally." He'd had a bypass 10 years previously, and was supposed to go to the doc for a followup - unbeknownst to us, he skipped that appointment. He was buried with her ashes under his arm.

My first wife's father died suddenly from a heart attack. The mother contracted bone marrow cancer 2 years later. The doctors said they could track the progression and it started 2 years earlier! So it's not just the heart that is effected.

@JackPedigo Extreme stress will add to your Cancer risk for certain.

Our comments just made me realize another connection. The former wife's (I don't like the term Ex's even though we didn't make it they are still around and are still a person) father was in a job he hated. He had to go around interviewing people on welfare and decide if they could stay or would be dropped. He decided to take the day off and gather the family for a day in the city. They went to see a movie and went to a restaurant. That night he died in his sleep from a heart attack. He was in his late 50's!
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