Heartbreak can actually change the rhythm of your heart, study finds

Suffering a bereavement can weaken the heart

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Losing a loved one really can break your heart, research suggests, although not for ever.

People who lose a partner are at an increased risk of developing an irregular heartbeat for the next 12 months, scientists found.

The risk seems to be greatest among the under 60s and when the loss of the partner was least expected.

Danish researchers collected data from almost 89,000 people diagnosed with atrial fibrillation between 1995 and 2014, which they compared to the health records of 886,000 healthy people.

They looked at several factors that might influence atrial fibrillation risk: time since the bereavement; age and sex; underlying conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes; the health of the partner a month before death; and whether they were single.

Some 17,500 of those diagnosed with atrial fibrillation had lost their partner as had 169,000 of the comparison group.

Underlying illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and associated treatment for these conditions, were more common among those who had been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation.

But the risk of developing an irregular heartbeat for the first time was 41 per cent higher among those who had been bereaved than it was among those who had not experienced such a loss, the findings, published in the BMJ’s 'Open Heart' magazine, indicated.

The risk seemed to be greatest eight to 14 days following a death, after which it gradually subsided until after a year the risk was similar to that of someone who had not been bereaved.