This Common Pain-Reliever Could Reduce Fatal Cardiac Events During Bereavement

Death of a loved one could put people at risk of dying from cardiovascular events. According to a new study, taking aspirin and beta-blockers can help protect the heart during bereavement. A combination of low dose aspirin taken alongside beta-blockers was found to reduce blood pressure and, thereby, decrease the symptoms of anxiety during bereavement. Clinicians can incorporate such preventive measures.

The researchers at the University of Sydney, Australia, explained that the findings of their study can help prevent the risk of mortality and adverse cardiovascular events that are known to spike during bereavement.

“The increased risk of heart attack [during bereavement] can last up to 6 months. It is highest in the first days following bereavement and remains at four times the risk between 7 days to 1 month after the loss,” Medical News Today quoted the study’s lead author Dr. Geoffrey Tofler, professor of Preventive cardiology at the faculty of medicine and health.

The research also highlighted the fact that the risk of death following the loss of a loved one accounts for almost half of the excess deaths during the bereavement of a spouse. Despite the causes of heart disease risk during bereavement being unclear, they believe that factors such as higher systolic blood pressure, heart rate, anxiety, depression, anger, lower heart rate variability, and immune changes could contribute to it.

The research team sought to find out whether a low dosage of the beta-blocker metoprolol given alongside aspirin could reduce the markers of heart disease risk without interfering with the grieving process.

The study included 85 participants who suffered the loss of their spouse or a child in the past couple of weeks. Forty-two of them were given two daily doses of metoprolol and aspirin for a period of 6 weeks and the remaining were given a placebo.

They, then, measure the participants’ blood pressure, 24-hour average heart rate, anxiety symptoms, depression, blood clotting response and their bereavement using the Core Bereavement Items Questionnaire.

The findings revealed that the combination of low dose medication did help reduce the spikes in blood pressure and heart rate alongside some positive change in blood clotting tendency. The researchers were also reassured that the combination of medication produced no side effects on the psychological responses but did really lower symptoms of depression and anxiety.

This has been the first-ever clinical trial to examine how the cardiac risk factors could be mitigated during early bereavement.