Heart Health
Chronic loneliness linked to higher risk of stroke
Research we're watching
- Reviewed by Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
People who feel persistently lonely may be more prone to experiencing a stroke, according to a study published June 24, 2024, in eClinicalMedicine.
The study included more than 12,000 adults ages 50 and older who had never had a stroke. All completed a 20-item test designed to measure loneliness and social isolation. Four years later, the nearly 9,000 people remaining in the study repeated the test; researchers then tracked them for six to eight more years.
People with high loneliness scores only during the initial assessment had a 25% higher risk of stroke than those not considered lonely. But those who were lonely during both assessments had a 56% higher risk of stroke than those with consistently low loneliness scores, even after researchers accounted for a range of other risk factors. In addition to classic risk factors for stroke, such as high blood pressure and smoking, these included measures of social isolation and symptoms of depression, which are related to but distinct from loneliness. Read more about loneliness and ways to address the problem in the November 2023 Heart Letter article "Advice for the lonely hearts club."
Image: © PamelaJoeMcFarlane/Getty Images
About the Author
Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter
About the Reviewer
Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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