Does Being “Lonely” Hurt Your Heart?

August 17th, 2009

I just received an interesting email from Sarah about a recent CNN story that details the impact of loneliness on cardiovascular disease. I found the story fascinating, so I posted the first few paragraphs below. I also included a hyperlink to the rest of the article after the snippet.

Here is the beginning to Ray Hainer’s article title, “Loneliness Hurts The Heart”:

People who lack a strong network of friends and family are at greater risk of developing — and dying from — heart disease, research shows. According to some studies, the risk of solitude is comparable to that posed by high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and even smoking.

Lonely Hearts And Heart Disease, Attacks, Etc.

Experts haven’t pinpointed exactly how social networks protect against heart disease, but there are a number of probable explanations. People who are socially isolated are more likely to drink, smoke, and get less exercise. And once someone has heart disease, friends and family often provide key support, such as picking up prescriptions, encouraging exercise, cooking healthy meals, and helping with household chores.

While that everyday help is important, it’s not the whole story. In recent years, researchers have begun to unravel the cardiovascular effects of social isolation, and they’ve discovered that feeling alone may hurt the heart even more than actually being alone.

“We started looking at social isolation about 20 years ago, and we found fairly quickly that objective social isolation in everyday life isn’t as important as perceived social isolation,” says John Cacioppo, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago. “And there’s a term for perceived social isolation: It’s loneliness.”

What we call loneliness — the feeling that you have no one to turn to, that no one understands you — is a form of stress. And if it becomes chronic, it can wreak havoc on your blood vessels and heart.

Click here to read more about how being alone can impact a patient’s susceptibility to heart disease.

About The Author: Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. This unique book integrates clinical research with the personal experiences of 135 former patients to help future patients and their caregivers better understand the problems, the opportunities and the realities of heart valve surgery. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.