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Which explains why elderly couples pass away hours within each other.
By Nicole Weaver — Written on May 16, 2018
New research shows shows that a broken heart can actually kill you.
A study published in Ageing and Immunity found that elderly people who have just experienced a death of a loved one makes them more vulnerable to infectious diseases.
Anna Phillips, a professor of behavioral medicine at the University of Birmingham’s School of Sport, Exercise, and Rehabilitation Sciences studied two small groups of mourners. One group had the average age of 32, and the other group was significantly older with the average age of 72. There was a third group that acted as the control by being the ones who haven't lost a loved one.
After they compared each group's health they found that the elderly mourners had less function in their white blood cells, which typically help fight off infections. The younger group of mourners seemed to only be affected psychologically.
That would explain why you hear of so many elderly couples dying with hours of each other, but don't get the same headlines for couples in their younger years.
So, looks like dying of a broken heart doesn't only happen The Notebook.
