Grief Is No Killer

The notion that one can die of a broken heart is embedded in folklore. A number of medical studies have supported that view, indicating that widows and widowers are at increased risk of untimely death. But the idea that grief kills has recently come under fire. The increase in premature mortality, say some experts, now seems to be smaller than commonly believed and more apt to involve people already vulnerable. For example: couples who share the same hazards, such as smoking and poor diet.

Further doubt comes from a study reported last week in the New England Journal of Medicine. It reviews the life-spans of parents of all 2,518 Israeli soldiers killed in the 1973 October War, plus parents of 1,128 young men who died in accidents. Conclusion: "No consistent evidence of an elevated risk of death, early or late, after the loss." There was one exception: the death rate rose among widowed and divorced parents who had lost a son, suggesting that support from a spouse lessens grief-related stress. "Rather than emphasize the disruptive power of stress," wrote Drs. Malcolm Rogers and Peter Reich of the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, "the physician may do better to emphasize human resilience and the power of life."