The English actor Kate Beckinsale recently lost her stepfather. She experienced such intense grief at the loss that it “burned a hole” in her oesophagus, causing her to “vomit copious amounts of blood”. Beckinsale spent six weeks in hospital recovering.
People often speak about the emotional toll of grief and stress, but often less is said about the effects it can have on other parts of the body. Is it true that grief can cause such profound physical symptoms as vomiting blood? Perhaps. What we do know is that stress is linked to many other conditions that affect almost every system in the body.
