Many lonely older women die of a broken heart and lockdowns have increased the risk

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

Many lonely older women die, literally, of a broken heart - and lockdowns have further increased the risk, reveals new research.

Social distancing has been one of the main tools used to try and contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the new study found an increase in heart disease risk of up to 27 percent in postmenopausal women who experience both high levels of social isolation and loneliness.

The findings, published online by JAMA Network Open, reveal that social isolation and loneliness independently increased cardiovascular disease risk by eight percent and five percent respectively.

But if older women experienced high levels of both, their risk rose 13 percent to 27 percent compared to women who reported low levels of social isolation and low levels of loneliness.

Study first author Dr. Natalie Golaszewski said: “We are social beings.

"In this time of COVID-19, many people are experiencing social isolation and loneliness, which may spiral into chronic states."

Dr. Golaszewski , of the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California, San Diego, added: “It is important to further understand the acute and long-term effects these experiences have on cardiovascular health and overall well-being.”

She explained that social isolation and loneliness are "mildly correlated" and can occur at the same time, but they are not mutually exclusive. For example, a socially isolated person is not always lonely and conversely a person experiencing loneliness is not necessarily socially isolated.

Study senior author Dr. John Bellettiere, Assistant Professor of epidemiology at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health, said: “Social isolation is about physically being away from people, like not touching or seeing or talking to other people.

"Loneliness is a feeling, one that can be experienced even by people who are regularly in contact with others,”

He said that social isolation and loneliness are a "growing public health concern" as they are associated with health conditions that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease including obesity, smoking, physical inactivity, poor diet, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

When researchers included all of 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.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States - responsible for one in every five deaths, according to official figures.

The researchers said that as social networks shrink, older adults are more at risk for social isolation and loneliness - with a quarter of adults 65 or older reporting social isolation and one-in-three adults 45 or older report being lonely.

Dr. Bellettiere said: "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.

"Further studies are needed to better understand that.”

Previous research indicates women experience more social isolation than men.

The new study involved more than 57,000 postmenopausal American women who had previously responded to questionnaires assessing social isolation from 2011 to 2012.

They were sent a second questionnaire assessing loneliness and social support in 2014 to 2015.

Participants were followed from the time of the questionnaire completion through 2019 or when they were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. A total of 1,599 of the participants experienced cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Golaszewski said: “Measures of social isolation and loneliness - even with brief questions as was done in our study - should be incorporated into standard care."

She added: “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.”