Loneliness Linked to Heart Attack and Hospitalization in Older People: Study

People who are lonely and socially isolated are at a 16 percent higher risk for cardiovascular issues like heart attacks, according to a recent review of multiple studies. The peer-reviewed analysis, published in the Scientific Reports journal on June 4, investigated how social isolation and loneliness affected the risk of developing cardiovascular disease among middle-aged and elderly individuals. The researchers reviewed six studies involving 104,511 patients from Australia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Denmark, England, and Germany. The prevalence of loneliness ranged from 5 percent to 65.3 percent among the patients while that of social isolation ranged from 2 percent to 56.5 percent. While loneliness refers to the feeling of separation or being alone, socially isolated individuals have few people to interact with....