Title: 5 Things That Happen To Your Body When You Lose Someone Close To You
Headings: 5 Ways Your Body Experiences Grief
5 Ways Your Body Experiences Grief
1. Heartache is real.
2. Grief can compromise the immune systems of older people.
3. Sleeplessness.
4. Grief can impact cognitive functioning.
5. Grief can mess with your appetite.

Content: Some people do experience what is called “ complicated grief ,” which the Mayo Clinic describes as “like being in an ongoing, heightened state of mourning that keeps you from healing.” People with complicated grief continue to have intense symptoms of grieving after a prolonged period of mourning; mourners who think they may be suffering from this condition should seek help from a medical professional. 1. Heartache is real. We often use terms like “heartache” or “heartbreak” to describe intense feelings of loss and sadness, but it turns out that these words are more than metaphorical: grief does physically affect our hearts. A 2012 study found that, in the day following the loss of a loved one, mourners’ are 21 more times likely to have a heart attack than normal, and six times more likely in the week following the loss. One’s chances of heart attack or stroke continue to be higher than usual for up to a month. There is also such a thing as “ broken heart syndrome ” (also known as “stress-induced cardiomyopathy” or “takotsubo cardiomyopathy”), which occurs when, during a moment of extreme stress, the left ventricle of the heart balloons, causing symptoms similar to a heart attack, included chest pain and shortness of breath.