Beta-blockers and aspirin may protect the heart during bereavement

Islamabad (Pakistan Point News / Online - 13th February, 2020) New research finds that a combination of low dose aspirin and beta-blockers reduces blood pressure and decreases symptoms of anxiety during bereavement.

The findings could materialize into preventive measures that clinicians incorporate into their practices.A combination of aspirin and beta-blockers may relieve cardiovascular risk during bereavement.

Dr. Geoffrey Tofler, a professor of preventive cardiology at the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney, in Australia, is the lead author of the new study.He explains the motivation for the research, saying that the risk of mortality and adverse cardiovascular events is known to spike during bereavement.

Specifically: "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," the lead author notes.

In fact, in their paper which appears in the American Heart Journal the authors note that the risk of death following the loss of a loved one accounts for almost half of the excess mortality during the bereavement of a spouse.

Although the causes of cardiovascular risk during bereavement remain somewhat unclear, researchers believe that contributing factors can include higher systolic blood pressure and heart rate, lower heart rate variability, immune changes, and anxiety, depression, and anger.

Some previous studies, note Dr. Tofler and the team, have suggested that beta-blockers, aspirin, or both could modify physiological pathways that get activated in bereavement.So, the researchers set out to test whether a low dosage of the beta-blocker metoprolol in combination with aspirin could lower the markers of cardiovascular risk without interfering with the grieving process.

Improving the health of bereaved peopleCo-author and associate professor Tom Buckley, Ph.D., says, "Our finding on the potentially protective benefit of this treatment is also a good reminder for clinicians to consider the well-being of the bereaved.

""Future studies are needed to assess if these medications could be used for other short periods of severe emotional stress, such as after natural disasters or mass bereavement, where currently there are no guidelines to inform clinicians.

"Co-investigator Holly Prigerson, Ph.D., co-director of the Center for Research on End-of-Life Care, at Weill Cornell Medicine, in New York, also comments on the findings. She says, "This is an important study because it shows ways to improve the physical and mental health of at-risk bereaved people."