Broken Heart Syndrome threatens lives of elderly widows and widowers

When 87-year-old Millie Scheel's husband died two and a half years ago, she was lucky to have her son move in with her and her other children regularly checking in.

'I don't know what I would have done,” she said. 'It was a huge loss. We were married for 62 years.”

Although Scheel survived the death of her husband, it's not uncommon for elderly widows or widowers to die not long after their spouse, sometimes within six months or even just minutes after.

That's not always the case - some will live decades after the death of their spouse - but there is some science behind the phenomenon. It's called Broken Heart Syndrome, or takotsubo cardiomyopathy, and it can strike even if you're healthy, according to the American Heart Association.

'It really is a broken heart,” said Dr. Marc Wilkinson, a MercyCare family physician. 'The stress of a spouse dying is one of the top stressors that anybody can face.”

The sudden stress releases a high concentration of hormones that can precipitate a heart attack, he said. But unlike a regular heart attack, no blockage of the arteries occurs. Instead, the rush of hormones shock the blood vessels within the heart, causing them to constrict and spasm until heart failure occurs, killing the heart muscle - and sometimes the person - if not treated right away.

Although it's not particularly common, it is 'more common than people realize,” Wilkinson said.

If not stress, the depression that accompanies the loneliness of loss can sometimes lead to death, too.

'It's extremely difficult to lose a long-term love,” and dealing with that grief is a challenge that 'some people are never successful in navigating,” said Linda Kopping, coordinator of the Senior Center in Iowa City.

The consequence is a lack of personal meaning, decrease in a sense of well-being, less physical and cognitive activity and an overall decrease in health, she said.

That's why 'social interaction is one of the most important factors in a person's long term health,” she explained.

Just as social support can help delay the onset of age-related diseases, such as dementia, for example, it is particularly true of the companionship of a healthy, long-term marriage, she said.

VernAnn, 101, and Eugene Baxter, 102, will be married for 80 years this August. Both still are healthy for their age.

Eugene thinks it's because they ate healthy, never smoked and seldom drank soda. But perhaps their long-term companionship has played a more significant role in their health than he's aware of.

'Couples live longer together because they work off the strength and weaknesses of each other,” Wilkinson said.

If one partner is physically disabled and mentally 'with it” while the other has more physical capability but perhaps less mentally, couples will feed off their strengths and work together as a unit, he explained.

But when one dies, the other loses that support and will either follow in death shortly behind or end up needing to go to a care facility.

So if a spouse dies, it's important to keep busy, Kopping said.

Whether it's volunteering in the community, taking classes, finding a hobby or getting exercise, as long as you get out of the house and socialize, you'll be better off than if you were sitting at home alone, she said.

But for couples who've been married for decades, 'marriage was a journey,” Wilkinson said.

'They've been through a lot together ... And if it's a life well lived, they often will end the journey together, too.”