Loneliness can dramatically increase risk of a stroke
Loneliness is considered a significant factor in risk of suffering a stroke - E+/aquaArts studio
The feeling of loneliness may dramatically increase the risk of stroke, a major study has suggested.
The research by Harvard University in the United States found that such feelings could increase the risk of the deadly condition by more than 50 per cent.
Scientists tracked about 12,000 people aged 50 and over between 2006 and 2018.
They found those who had long-term feelings of loneliness had a far higher risk of suffering from a stroke.
Dr Yenee Soh, the lead author, of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, said: “Loneliness is increasingly considered a major public health issue. Our findings further highlight why that is.
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“Especially when experienced chronically, our study suggests loneliness may play an important role in stroke incidence, which is already one of the leading causes of long-term disability and mortality worldwide.”
The study, published in eClinicalMedicine, used data from 2006 to 2018 from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study.
Some 12,161 people aged 50 and over who had never had a stroke were asked questions about loneliness between 2006 and 2008.
Four years later, 8,936 people who remained in the study responded to the same questions and researchers then grouped the people depending on their answers across the two time points.
The groups were “consistently low” (those who scored low on the loneliness scale at both points); “remitting” (those who scored high at first and low at follow-up); “recent onset” (those who scored low at first and high at follow-up); and “consistently high” (those who scored high at both baseline and follow-up).
Among the people who provided two assessments of loneliness over time, 601 strokes occurred between 2010-2018.
Of those whose loneliness was measured at the start of the study only, 1,237 strokes happened.
After controlling for factors such as social isolation and depressive symptoms, which are closely related to loneliness but distinct, researchers found that people considered lonely at the start of the study had a 25 per cent higher risk of stroke than those not considered lonely.
Among those who scored “consistently high” for loneliness at both time points, there was a 56 per cent higher risk of stroke than those in the “consistently low” group.
Dr Soh said: “Repeat assessments of loneliness may help identify those who are chronically lonely and are therefore at a higher risk for stroke.
“If we fail to address their feelings of loneliness, on a micro and macro scale, there could be profound health consequences.”
Dr Soh said people should be offered help if they had feelings of loneliness, rather than if they were socially isolated.
The study is not the first to make a link between the feeling of loneliness and poor health.
A previous study by the University of York found that people who feel lonely are about 30 per cent more likely to suffer a stroke or heart disease, two of the leading causes of death in Britain.
Experts say that there are a number of explanations.
Some scientists say that those who are lonely might have fewer people around to encourage them to take care of their health, or notice when they fell ill.
But a previous study by Harvard University linked feelings of isolation with increased levels of blood-clotting protein which can cause heart attacks and strokes.
Isolation was found to activate the “fight or flight” stress signal which increases levels of protein fibrinogen in anticipation of injury and blood loss.
Too much fibrinogen is bad for health, raising blood pressure and causing the build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries.
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