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Heartbreak can impair the immune system of older people and make them more prone to infections, researchers have found.
Scientists said older people who had suffered a recent bereavement had poorer defences against bacteria, which could leave them more vulnerable to killer infections, such as pneumonia.
Blood tests showed that the same group had imbalances in their stress hormones, which are known to have a direct impact on the body's ability to fight off bugs.
Anna Phillips, a reader in behavioural medicine at Birmingham University, said the damaging effects of bereavement on the immune system were not seen in younger people, whose defences seemed more resilient.
The finding suggests that in the weeks and months after the loss of a loved one, older people should keep in touch with their friends and family, and exercise and eat well, to reduce stress levels and boost their immune systems.
"Bereavement is a really key stressor that happens to all of us at some point so it's worth being aware of the negative impact it can have on your health," Phillips said.
"It's a key time to look after yourself in terms of your psychological and physical wellbeing. Don't try and cope by staying in, drinking more and exercising less. Try to cope by having social interactions, looking after yourself by keeping a certain level of fitness and eating well," she added.
For her study, Phillips recruited people who had lost a loved one, either a spouse or family member, in the past two months. She then looked at how well bacteria-killing immune cells called neutrophils performed.
Neutrophils arrive at sites of infection and release bursts of what are called reactive oxygen species (ROS) to kill some forms of bacteria.
Speaking at the British Science Festival in Birmingham, Phillips said in bereaved people aged 65 and over, the neutrophils did not release enough ROS to kill bugs off. The immune cells worked normally in a second group of bereaved people aged 18 to 45, she said.
Phillips next looked at stress hormones in the blood, in particular levels of cortisol, the main stress hormone, and another stress hormone called DHEAS (dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate). Cortisol can dampen down the immune system, while DHEAS boosts it.
She found that while younger people who had suffered a bereavement had a normal balance of stress hormones, older people had much more cortisol than DHEAS. Phillips believes that the lack of DHEAS in older people – a result of natural ageing of the immune system – means there is too little to combat the effect of cortisol, which stops the neutrophils working properly. Details are published in the journal Immunity and Ageing.
Phillips is now considering launching a trial to see whether supplements of DHEAS can help older people fight off infections in the weeks and months after a bereavement.
But the approach is controversial because there is little evidence to suggest that boosting the hormone will improve people's health. She warned also that supplements available on the internet were unreliable and often did not even contain any DHEAS.
"One of best things people can do is re-engage with their social support networks. Do not socially isolate yourself at times of stress, particularly bereavement," she said.
"That's hard in older groups because the person they've lost might have been their main source of support. That's why it's really important to be involved in the community so you are not left alone as an old person when this happens," she added.
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