New research shows that a death of a loved one, a sporting event, natural disasters and terror attacks can all prompt sudden cardiac death.
The research from the Heart Foundation – that took them ten years to conduct – also says that living alone and having few social contacts can be a risk factor for a heart attack too.
Job stresses – that have long been associated with heart disease – have been shown to have little likelihood in causing a heart attack.
“But many of the other stressors like poor rewards, job dissatisfaction and poor working hours, all those things which are traditionally thought to have some impact on heart health were not important,” Heart Foundation chief medical adviser Professor James Tatoulis told The Courier Mail.
The research paper showed a 40 per cent increase in mortality from heart attacks in bereaved people in the first six months after the death.
There was a 21 fold increase in the incidence of non-fatal heart attacks in the first 24 hours after bereavement and a fourfold increase in the first month after bereavement.
However, Professor Tatoulis was quick to point out that many of those who had these heart attacks probably had underlying heart conditions in the first place.
Acute emotional stress like bereavement has also been linked to a heart problem known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy – where the heart muscles contract into an hour glass shape causing chest pain and impaired heart function.
Professor Tatoulis said this heart problem was more common in women aged 45-65 who were subjected to acute stress, but it usually resolved over 4-8 weeks.
The Heart Foundation is calling on sporting bodies to ensure they are equipped with defibrillators during grand finals and other big sporting matches because of a higher risk of heart attacks.
Natural and other disasters were also linked to a significant increase in cardiac events.
Source: The Courier Mail