人真的會因爲心碎而死嗎?大綱

You hear it whenever someone gets sick or dies soon after losing a spouse: Was it because of a broken heart?

每當有人在失去配偶後不久便生病甚至死亡，就會聽到這種說法：是因爲心碎嗎？

Stress might not be to blame for former President George H.W. Bush's hospitalization a day after his wife's funeral, but it does the body no favors, and one partner's health clearly affects the other's.

美國前總統喬治.H.W.布什在妻子葬禮的第二天便入院接受治療，這或許不能歸因於壓力，但肯定對身體沒好處，一個人的健康狀況顯然會影響其伴侶。

A sudden shock can trigger a heart attack or something like it called broken heart syndrome. Some studies also have found that people are more likely to die soon after losing a longtime spouse.

突如其來的打擊會導致心臟病發作或被一些被稱爲“心碎綜合徵”的症狀發生。一些研究還發現，人們在失去長期陪伴自己的配偶後不久死亡的可能性較高。

But often the timing is mere coincidence, and "broken heart" speculation just fuels a neat narrative when the problem is unsurprising in an older person with underlying health issues.

但時機往往只是個巧合，有潛在健康問題的老人出了狀況並不令人驚訝，人們猜測這是“心碎”造成的只是希望對這一現象作出更簡潔的描述。

Bush has suffered from a number of health conditions in recent years, including a form of Parkinson's disease and a serious bout with pneumonia.

近年來布什一直有一系列的健康問題，包括一種帕金森氏症和一場嚴重的肺炎。

In any case, the death of a loved one is a dangerous time for the surviving spouse, said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center and an American Heart Association spokeswoman.

紐約大學蘭貢醫療中心的心臟病專家、美國心臟病協會發言人尼卡·戈德伯格博士稱，無論如何，愛人死亡之時對於倖存的配偶來說是個危險的時刻。

"When people are depressed after something like this happens, they may not be eating, they may ignore symptoms and want to be stoic. They're certainly stressing and may not be getting enough rest. All of these things can set the stage for life-threatening conditions. It's really important to have a lot of other support around you."

“當人們因爲發生這樣的事而感到沮喪時，他們可能不想吃東西，可能會忽視一些症狀，希望默默承受痛苦。他們肯定會壓力很大，無法得到充足的休息。所有這些都會導致危及生命的狀況出現。這時身邊有許多情感支持是非常重要的。”

It's possible the former president ignored early signs of infection during the flurry of preparations for Barbara Bush's funeral, said James Giordano, a Georgetown University neurologist and expert on stress's effects on the body.

美國喬治敦大學的神經學家、專門研究壓力對身體影響的詹姆斯·喬達諾稱，在籌備芭芭拉.布什葬禮的過程中，老布什可能忽視了早期的感染跡象。

"It could be something as simple as that; inattention led to an escalation of signs and symptoms," he said. so medical problems and risks are magnified by stress.

喬達諾說：“事情可能就這麼簡單，疏忽導致症狀加劇。”所以說，醫學問題和風險會因壓力而被放大。

Stress has three stages, Giordano said: alarm, when the body releases "fight or flight" chemicals that can do damage; a resistance stage, like "calling out all the troops" to deal with the stress; and then fatigue or a letdown stage, when some of the body's defenses may crash from the strain.

喬達諾說，壓力有三個階段：警報階段，即身體產生“戰鬥或逃跑反應”，釋放可以造成傷害的化學物質；抵禦階段，即“全體出動”應對壓力；疲勞或鬆弛階段，即身體的某些防禦機制可能因緊張而崩潰。

Even if a partner's death is anticipated -- as Barbara Bush's was after she decided to forgo more aggressive medical treatment and focus on comfort care -- "facing and going through the reality of the event" is stressful, he said.

他表示，即便配偶去世在意料之中--當時芭芭拉·布什決定放棄更積極的治療並專注於舒適護理--但“面對和經歷這一現實”也是非常有壓力的。

Stress and a broken heart sometimes may get too much blame, though, when people are grieving.

不過，當人們悲傷時，壓力和心碎有時可能受到了過多的指責。

"Broken heart syndrome" was widely speculated when Debbie Reynolds died a day after her daughter, actress Carrie Fisher, in 2016.

2016年，黛比·雷諾茲在同爲演員的女兒凱麗·費雪去世後的第二天也不幸離世，從而引發了她死於“心碎”的普遍猜測。

An autopsy later showed that Reynolds, 84, died of a blood vessel that ruptured and caused bleeding in her brain -- a kind of stroke. She also had high blood pressure and other serious medical problems for several years before that.

後來的屍檢結果顯示，84歲的雷諾茲死於血管破裂引發的腦出血--一種中風。她還患有高血壓，此前幾年也曾出現其他嚴重的健康問題。