Doctors have long known that stress hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine that are raised by grief can take a damaging toll on the body.
But there may be other forces at play as well. Research shows that in some cases, one persons heartbeat can affect, even regulate, anothers, possibly acting as a type of life support.
In one such study, Rollin McCraty, research director at the Institute of HeartMath in Boulder Creek, Calif., looked at what happened to six longtime co
more...Doctors have long known that stress hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine that are raised by grief can take a damaging toll on the body.
But there may be other forces at play as well. Research shows that in some cases, one persons heartbeat can affect, even regulate, anothers, possibly acting as a type of life support.
In one such study, Rollin McCraty, research director at the Institute of HeartMath in Boulder Creek, Calif., looked at what happened to six longtime couples hearts while they slept. Heart-rate monitors revealed that during the night, as the couple slept beside each other, their heart rhythms fell into sync, rising and falling at the same time. When the printouts of their EKGs were placed on top of each other, they looked virtually the same.
Quote: When people are in a relationship for 20, 30, 40, 50 years, they create sort of a co-energetic resonance with each other, says Lipsenthal, who is the past director of Dr. Dean Ornishs Preventative Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, Calif.
(Quote): A simple analogy is two tuning forks, put next to each other. They create a co-resonant pitch. What happens when two people sleep together for 50 years? What happens when one goes away?
In recent years, another condition has come to light: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, also known as Broken Heart Syndrome.
The condition nearly always follows a traumatic emotional loss, such as death of a spouse, parent or child and it primarily affects women. It causes chest pain and sudden heart failure, believed to be brought on by a surge of fight or flight hormones, says Dr. Barbara Messinger-Rapport, a geriatrician at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Patients with the condition tend to recover faster than most other heart patients, says Messinger-Rapport. And if they survive the initial bout, it almost never recurs.
Is it possible to die of a broken heart? says Wechkin. Absolutely.
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