A new study underscores the increasing health dangers of social isolation and loneliness among seniors.The study of nearly 60,000 postmenopausal women found the risk of heart disease rose as much as 27% in those who had few social contacts and felt they were isolated from others.
The Women’s Health Initiative study found lower levels of social isolation increased the risk of cardiovascular disease by 8%, and loneliness drove up the risk by 5%. If women experienced high levels of both, their risk grew by 13% to 27%, compared to women who reported low levels of social isolation and loneliness.
“We monitor our patients’ blood pressure, weight and temperature, and it might also be beneficial to capture the social needs that individuals may be lacking to better understand cardiovascular risk and develop solutions,” the study’s lead author, Natalie Golaszewski, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego, said of the findings.
The women participating in the study responded to questions assessing social isolation from 2011 through 2012. They received follow-up questionnaires assessing loneliness and social support in 2014 and 2015. The study followed participants through 2019, when nearly 1,600 women said they had experienced cardiovascular disease.
There are distinctions between social isolation and loneliness. People who are socially isolated have few social relationships and infrequent contact with others. Loneliness is the subjective feeling of being isolated. Both are deadly to seniors.
The World Health Organization has recognized social isolation and loneliness as a priority public health problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, being socially disconnected can increase a person’s risk of death from all causes and increase the risk of dementia by 50%.
Socially isolated people are also at increased risk of obesity, smoking, physical inactivity, poor nutrition, high blood pressure and cholesterol.
When researchers included those health behaviors and conditions in their study and adjusted for diabetes and depression, high social isolation and loneliness remained strongly linked with increased risk for heart disease.
“We do not yet know whether the increased risk of cardiovascular disease is due to acute exposure to social isolation and loneliness or whether prolonged exposure accumulated over a lifetime is the culprit,” senior author John Bellettiere, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of epidemiology at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health, said. “Further studies are needed to better understand that.”
The Women’s Health Initiative study found lower levels of social isolation increased the risk of cardiovascular disease by 8%, and loneliness drove up the risk by 5%. If women experienced high levels of both, their risk grew by 13% to 27%, compared to women who reported low levels of social isolation and loneliness.
“We monitor our patients’ blood pressure, weight and temperature, and it might also be beneficial to capture the social needs that individuals may be lacking to better understand cardiovascular risk and develop solutions,” the study’s lead author, Natalie Golaszewski, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego, said of the findings.
The women participating in the study responded to questions assessing social isolation from 2011 through 2012. They received follow-up questionnaires assessing loneliness and social support in 2014 and 2015. The study followed participants through 2019, when nearly 1,600 women said they had experienced cardiovascular disease.
There are distinctions between social isolation and loneliness. People who are socially isolated have few social relationships and infrequent contact with others. Loneliness is the subjective feeling of being isolated. Both are deadly to seniors.
The World Health Organization has recognized social isolation and loneliness as a priority public health problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, being socially disconnected can increase a person’s risk of death from all causes and increase the risk of dementia by 50%.
Socially isolated people are also at increased risk of obesity, smoking, physical inactivity, poor nutrition, high blood pressure and cholesterol.
When researchers included those health behaviors and conditions in their study and adjusted for diabetes and depression, high social isolation and loneliness remained strongly linked with increased risk for heart disease.
“We do not yet know whether the increased risk of cardiovascular disease is due to acute exposure to social isolation and loneliness or whether prolonged exposure accumulated over a lifetime is the culprit,” senior author John Bellettiere, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of epidemiology at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health, said. “Further studies are needed to better understand that.”
