Lone Heart

Findings published in the journal, Heart, states that loneliness and isolation may increase the risk of having a stroke or developing heart disease. The effect is comparable to that of other recognised factors such as anxiety and a stressful job.

This has been suggested after researchers from York University, UK studied more than 181,000 adults including 4,628 coronary heart disease events and 3,002 strokes. It was revealed that loneliness and social isolation was associated with 29% increase in coronary heart disease and 32% increase in stroke risk. The events were recorded during the monitoring period ranging from three to twenty one years.

“Our work suggests that addressing loneliness and social isolation may have an important role in the prevention of two of the leading causes of morbidity in high income countries,” the study’s authors noted.