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I just received an Email from her son Mark. I am Gretchen Erickson's son Mark, and I wanted to let everyone know who loved and appreciated my mother as much as I did that she is no longer with us. One comfort that I do have is the realization that she is no longer in any pain and is with God now. I still hear her resounding infectious laugh ringing in my ears as a constant reminder that she is having a wonderful time in Heaven. As I write this and I look at how many people she had in...

Scientists show we can die of a broken heart By Roger Highfield, Science Editor Last Updated: 12:47am BST 10/04/2007 Scientists have charted for the first time how intense stress caused by bereavement can make someone "die of a broken heart". A British team has found that the regions of the brain responsible for learning, memory and emotion can destabilise the cardiac muscle of someone who already has heart disease. When we are under stress, these "higher regions" of the brain take part in a vicious circle of activity which can trigger harmful rhythms, researchers say. While it has always been...

Source: Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Date: May 13, 2007 Clues To 'Broken Heart Syndrome' Science Daily — The causes of "broken heart syndrome" remain a mystery, but doctors will soon have an easier time recognizing and treating this rare, life-threatening condition, thanks to new data. Researchers from Brown University in Providence, RI, have developed the largest registry of patients in the United States with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, informally known as broken heart syndrome because it is often preceded by an emotional or physical shock of some kind and almost always strikes women. One thing is certain: Patients are usually...

I just lost my beloved Wolfhound this morning. He was diagnosed with Lymphoma in October and was doing really well. He died of complications as a result of the chemo.Jamie was the best dog in the world. I never even had to train him, he just always did what I asked him to do. He was one of those good natured protectors. You know the type, they didn't bark, they just got between you and whoever. Since he weighed 192 lbs nobody ever bothered to test him, they just kept their distance. You could take him anywhere, he had perfect...