Heart, Stroke Risk Up after Spouse’s Death

The risk of a heart attack or stroke doubles for older adults in the month after they lose a spouse or partner, a new study suggests. The study looked at the medical histories of 2 groups of adults, ages 60 through 89. One group included 30,500 men and women who had lost a spouse or partner between 2005 and 2012. The other group included 83,600 people in the same age group who had not lost a partner. In the month after the partner died, the bereaved person was twice as likely to have a fatal or nonfatal heart attack or stroke as someone who did not have such a loss. But the number of these events was small. And after 90 days the heart attack and stroke rates were about the same in both groups. The journal JAMA Internal Medicine published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it February 24.