In JAMA, researchers released their recent findings showing that postmenopausal women who experience high levels of social isolation and loneliness may be at a 27 percent increase in heart disease risk.
The journal’s findings also centered on loneliness and was authored by a team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego.
More than 57,000 elderly women residing in the U.S. were examined. The women were between the ages of 65 and 99.
In the cohort study, the women who experienced social isolation and loneliness had a 5 to 8 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Meanwhile, women with high levels of social isolation and loneliness experienced a 13 to 27 percent increased risk of heart disease.
“In this cohort study, social isolation and loneliness were independently associated with modestly higher risk of CVD among postmenopausal women in the US, and women with both social isolation and loneliness had greater CVD risk than did those with either exposure alone,” according to Natalie Golaszewski and her colleagues.
“The findings suggest that these prevalent psychosocial processes merit increased attention for prevention of CVD in older women, particularly in the era of COVID-19.”
