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It turns out a broken heart is no longer just a metaphor but may very well be a serious medical condition. People who experience the loss of a loved one, most particularly a spouse, are at a higher risk of developing an irregular heartbeat and may have the condition for about a year.

A research was conducted on 974,732 adults in Denmark, 88,612 of which were recently diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, a very common type of arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat. According to The Washington Post, the research covered a ten-year span during which 186,418 of the participants experienced their spouse dying. These people were discovered to have a 41 percent increased chance to develop atrial fibrillation than those whose partners did not die. If the death of their partners was unexpected, because they did not seem to show any health problems prior, the risk was found to be 57 percent higher.

Atrial fibrillation poses quite a serious health risk. It is linked with an increased risk of a stroke, heart failure, and death.

The study also found that the chances of developing atrial fibrillation was higher at eight to 14 days after the death of the spouse and could last up to a year. Gender and other underlying health conditions were found to be irrelevant with regard to the increased risk.

According to Stuff.co New Zealand, stress plays a significant role in the development of atrial fibrillation. The death of a partner is one of the greatest causes of psychological stress that may lead to depression, anxiety, anger, and more. Acute mental stress also causes an imbalance in the central nervous system. This system is responsible for controlling the frequency of our heartbeat and facilitates the contraction of our heart chambers. Chronic stress can also cause hormonal imbalance. The release of adrenaline when we are stressed can cause irregular heartbeat if the production of it was prolonged.

Meanwhile, it is also possible that the behavior associated as a response to stress could also contribute to an increased risk in heart disease. When experiencing stress, people often turn to alcohol, cigarettes, or a poor diet which of course all pose possible risks to the health of the heart.

The study reveals that people who experience a death of a partner may require more medical attention. It was conducted at Aarhus University and published in the journal Open Heart.