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It is a phenomenon that has long been suspected - and now scientists say it really is possible to die of a broken heart. A study has found that when a husband or wife dies, the remaining spouse's risk of dying is 66 per cent higher in the three months after their partner's death.
And the effect may be stronger in younger people, say the Harvard researchers.
For the new study, they analysed more than 26,000 Americans over age 50.
Broken heart: Last year, Marcus Ringrose, the grieving husband of Doctor Who actress Mary Tamm, died the day after her funeral. An inquest heard he had died of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, a cardiac condition which can be triggered by emotional stress
They focused on 12,316 of the participants who were married in 1998 and followed them through 2008 to determine which participants became widows or widowers, then recorded when they died.
There were 2,912 deaths during the study period. Of those, 2,373 were among married people who left a widow or widower behind. The other 539 deaths were among people who had become widows and widowers themselves.
Widows and widowers were more likely to die than people whose spouses were still living, on average.
The effect was strongest during the first three months after a spouse's death, when they had a 66 per cent increased chance of dying.
Fifty of those 539 people died within three months of losing their spouse, 26 died between three and six months later and 44 died between six and 12 months later.
Earlier research showed men were at greater risk of dying soon after a spouse than women, but the authors of this study didn't find a difference.
That could be because they took into account participants' income and wealth, which may have influenced past findings, they said.
Together: Minnesota couple Clifford and Eva Vevea who were 'hopelessly in love' for 65 years of their marriage, died within hours of each other
They added that they still aren't clear on what causes the widowhood effect.
'It's possible it's a grief-related mechanism, or that providing care for the sick spouse causes illness in the surviving spouse,' lead researcher Dr. S. V. Subramanian told Reuters Health.
'Or, as one's spouse gets sicker, the surviving spouse stops taking care of their own health,' he suggested.
Because this study only looked at people over age 50, it isn't clear whether younger people would face the same risks after a spouse's death.
But Dr Subramanian said some evidence suggests the widowhood effect is actually stronger among younger people.
Last year, Marcus Ringrose, the grieving husband of Doctor Who actress Mary Tamm, died the day after her funeral.
Miss Tamm had died from cancer two weeks previously and he had given a ‘stunning’ 20-minute eulogy at her funeral.
The study found that when a husband or wife dies, the remaining spouse's risk of dying is 66 per cent higher in the three months after their partner's death
But by the next morning, he was dead - of a broken heart.
An inquest heard that Mr Ringrose, 59, who was otherwise fit and well, had died of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, a cardiac condition which can be triggered by emotional stress.
In the U.S., a Minnesota couple who were 'hopelessly in love' for all 65 years of their marriage, died within hours of each other, it was reported earlier this year.
Clifford and Eva Vevea spent their last few days together holding hands at their care home where they were staying.
Nurses at the home put their beds pushed their beds together so they could be together and Clifford aged 93 and Eva aged 90, passed away exactly the same way on the same day.
Local funeral director, Jim Bredman, referred to the close death of spouses as 'the anniversary syndrome' but said in most cases it occurs within a year or so.
Some experts say the change on lifestyle may be to blame.
'Maybe they used to go for a walk every night but now they're not doing that anymore. Maybe they're not sleeping well, or maybe not taking their medications," said Dr Ken Doka,a gerontologist at The College of New Rochelle in New York.
'Also, grief is extraordinarily stressful and when you're older and frailer it's harder to cope with stress.'
Dr Doka added that widowers may feel especially lonely because they don't know they need to be proactive about finding company.
'One of the problems widowers often have is the lack of support and one of the reasons is that very often the wife, historically, is the keeper of the kids.
'She's the one that called the kids up and said they should come over for dinner, so it's not unusual that widowers will often say no one ever stops over any more, because they didn't realise someone else was calling and inviting them.'
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