Social isolation, loneliness increases heart disease risk in older women: Study
A recent study has found that there is an almost 27 per cent increase in heart disease risk in postmenopausal women who experience both high levels of social isolation and loneliness.
The study has been published in the 'JAMA Network Open Journal'. The findings of the prospective study revealed that social isolation and loneliness independently increased cardiovascular disease risk by 8 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively.
If women experienced high levels of both, their risk rose 13 per cent to 27 per cent compared to women who reported low levels of social isolation and low levels of loneliness.
"We are social beings. In this time of COVID-19, many people are experiencing social isolation and loneliness, which may spiral into chronic states," said first author Natalie Golaszewski, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at the University of California San Diego.
"It is important to further understand the acute and long-term effects these experiences have on cardiovascular health and overall well-being," she added.
Importantly, social isolation and loneliness are mildly correlated and can occur at the same time, but they are not mutually exclusive. A socially isolated person is not always lonely and conversely, a person experiencing loneliness is not necessarily socially isolated.
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