Attention couples! The demise of your loved one can lead to your own death, especially if you are male, says a new study.

The review of recent research on bereavement found that the psychological distress it causes to spouses can greatly increase their chances of dying soon afterwards and men are more affected than women in such cases.

The report, published in the latest edition of The Lancet medical journal, cites a study that found men are 21 per cent more likely to die after the loss of their wife, while widows have a 17 per cent increased risk.

The bereaved are also more likely to have a range of medical problems and suffer from mental illness including depression, despair, loss of appetite and fatigue.

For widowers in particular, the deterioration in health is usually associated with increased alcohol consumption and stress associated with losing their sole confidante, who would have also overseen their well-being.

"The patterns are quite consistent, enabling the conclusion that the mortality of bereavement is attributable in large part to broken heart, the psychological distress due to the loss," the report said.

"Excess mortality in widowed populations is highest in the early months, and decreases with increasing duration of bereavement. Individuals who have been bereaved for a short time are at greater risk of mortality than those bereaved for longer, although raised risk might persist," it claimed.

Dr Margaret Stroebe of Utrecht University in Holland studied a range of literature to prepare the review.

Dr Stroebe concluded that while most people cope with grief without professional psychological help, it increases mortality through a range of causes including alcohol-related illnesses, heart disease, lung cancer and suicide.

The study found a three-fold increase in the risk of suicide in men over 60 who had lost their wife. However, there was no increase suicide risk among women in the same age group who had lost their husband.

The review also touched upon the risk of parents dying from a broken heart after the loss of a child, although Dr Stroebe noted that there was a lack of research in this field.

A Danish study from 2003 showed that fathers and mothers have a raised suicide risk after the death of their offspring, which is higher than younger the child and is particularly high in the first 30 days of bereavement.

An increased risk for mothers was seen to extend for 18 years in one study, with deaths caused by natural and unnatural causes, whereas fathers were at greater risk early on in bereavement from unnatural causes such as suicide and alcohol abuse.