Loss of life partner linked to irregular heartbeat

The death of a life partner can affect the normal rhythm of heartbeats, reveals a new study.

According to researchers people who lost their partner within the previous 30 days were 41 per cent more likely to develop an irregular heartbeat as against those who were not recently bereaved.

Also the more unexpected the death, the higher was the risk of a fluttering heart.

People under 60 were the most affected by the recent loss of a partner, with their risk of having an irregular heartbeat doubled as against control groups. The risk of developing arrhythmia also increased for those whose partner died suddenly as against those whose partners died after a long illness.

The study further suggested that just as time could heal an emotionally broken heart, it could also reduce the chances of developing a physically challenged one as well.

According to the authors, the risk a person exhibiting heartbeat irregularities was most pronounced 8 to 14 days after a partner's death and then slowly began to taper off. By one year after a partner's death, the bereaved was no more likely than anyone else to suffer from an irregular heartbeat.

The researchers collected information on 88,612 people newly diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and 886,120 healthy people, matched for age and sex, between 1995 and 2014.

They looked at several factors that might influence atrial fibrillation risk. These included time since the bereavement; age and sex; underlying conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes; the health of the partner a month before death; and whether they were single.

Some 17,478 of those diagnosed with atrial fibrillation had lost their partner as had 168,940 of the comparison group.

Underlying illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and associated treatment for these conditions, were more common among those who had been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation.

The risk of developing an irregular heartbeat for the first time was 41 per cent higher among those who had been bereaved than it was among those who had  not experienced such a loss, the findings indicated.

This was an observational study so no firm conclusions could be drawn about cause and effect, and no data on other potentially influential factors, such as lifestyle and family history, were available, the researchers said.