Grief triggered from news

Most of us in the US tonight are feeling an overwhelming sensation of grief following the news of the school shooting in Connecticut.

I could not help but to feel grief upon hearing the horrible news today coming out of Connecticut. My heart aches for these families. The raw pain they must be feeling, the heaviness in their hearts, the overwhelming anger towards those who did the crimes, the loss,  and the timing of the holidays makes it even worse. I feel compelled to reminded my readers how grief and heart disease are connected. The hospitals need to be prepared. With grief comes increased heart pain. Emotional distress is a trigger for angina as well as heart attacks.

How will you grieve?

Is it possible to grieve and not have heart ache?  Should I use nitro if my heart aches?

Some suggestions if you are overwhelmed by grief I tell myself include:

• Count your Blessings
• Hug those you can
• Express your love others
• Light a candle
• Meditate
• Pray
• Write about your emotion
• Don’t allow your emotions over the situation compromise your health
• Tune out…turn the news off…take a walk…..breathe the fresh air, enjoy the lights, listen to music

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Emotional distress is a common trigger of angina.

With loss many experience increased heart symptoms of chest pressure, chest discomfort, pain, heaviness, fatigue and energy loss.

 Heartache the emotional pain recognition site in the brain is located near the region that senses and interprets sensations. When we suffer emotionally, the brain responds by releasing neurochemicals we experience in our body as an intense aching in our upper abdomen and lower chest. Grief-related stress can increase blood pressure and heart rate, raise levels of the stress hormone cortisol, constrict blood vessels, and disrupt cholesterol-filled plaques that line arteries. Any one of these changes raises the risk of heart attack.

Grief also makes blood “stickier” and therefore more likely to clot. Acute stress tends to increase levels of the hormones known as catecholamines which causes platelets to stick together. If a plaque bursts, the resulting clot is more likely to cut off blood to the heart.

American Heart Association’s Circulation reports scientists have found evidence that grief might actually break your heart. Studies show that people grieving the death of a close loved one could have a heart attack risk that is higher than normal.

The calculated the risk of a heart attack as 21 times higher in the first day after the loss of a loved one.  Risk declines steadily with each day after a loved one’s passing, but it remains eight times higher one week after the death and four times higher one month afterward, according to the American Heart Association journal Circulation

The link between grief and bereavement was strongest among people who had preexisting risk factors for heart disease and heart attacks, such as high blood pressure or unhealthy cholesterol levels. People mourning the loss of a loved one might further increase their heart-attack risk by sleeping poorly, eating less,  and skipping their medications. Other factors may include binge eating of comfort foods, increased alcohol or tobacco in an effort to comfort oneself from the intense loss.

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Broken Heart Syndrome; 

Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy is a type of heart failure caused by grief or stress where the left ventricle balloons out taking on an unusual shape like a Japanese fishing pot. The symptoms are the same as a heart attack but an electrocardiogram does not always show the problem. You experience chest pain, shortness of breath, arm pain, and sweating as in a classic heart attack but its different. Postmenopausal women who are grieving are the main patients who experience this type of heart failure. It is caused when experiencing grief, stress, emotional trauma, or physical stress. The best test to confirm this heart problem is a contrast echocardiogram or an angiograph which takes pictures of your heart. The recovery for this type of heart failure usually takes less time than a classic heart attack.

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So that nitro bit….yep if you are feeling chest pain, sitting and  relaxing  controlling your emotional health by avoiding anger response or  intensive grief, …… and your doctor has  prescribed nitro  for you this would be an indication to  use it. Of course if it doesn’t get better and  your symptoms are worsening call 911.  Hospitals are you prepared?