Long-term loneliness can increase the risk of stroke by more than half, research suggests.
Middle-aged people who reported feelings of isolation were significantly more likely to suffer a stroke over the next decade.
According to a Harvard University study, those who have experienced loneliness for several years are most at risk.
Experts said it shows the public health threat posed by chronic loneliness and suggested screening people could help identify those at risk.
In 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared loneliness a major threat to global health, linking its effects on mortality to the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Middle-aged people who reported feelings of isolation were significantly more likely to have a stroke over the next decade.
While previous work has linked loneliness to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, the researchers said this is one of the first to examine specific links to stroke over time.
They created a loneliness score using data from questionnaires involving more than 12,000 Americans, ages 50 and older, between 2006 and 2008.
Four years later, the same questions were asked again to the 8,936 people who remained in the study.
Participants were classified as “consistently low,” “remitting” if they previously felt lonely but no longer felt lonely, “recent onset” if they scored low at baseline, and high or “consistently high” if they felt lonely at both intervals.
During follow-up through 2018, there were a total of 1,237 strokes among all people surveyed, falling to 601 among those who had two assessments.
After controlling for factors such as social isolation and depressive symptoms (closely related to loneliness but distinct), the researchers found that those who were alone at the start of the study had a 25 percent higher risk of having a stroke than those who were not. They considered themselves alone.
The risk was highest among those who scored consistently high: 56 percent more likely than those who scored consistently low, according to findings published in eClinicalMedicine.
Dr. Yenee Soh, research associate at the Harvard TH – Chan School of Public Health and lead author, said: “Loneliness is increasingly considered a major public health problem.” Our findings further highlight why this is so.
“Our study suggests that, especially when experienced chronically, loneliness may play an important role in the incidence of stroke, which is already a leading cause of long-term disability and mortality worldwide.”
Dr Soh said people should be offered help based on their loneliness – which relates to how people feel even if they are around others – and not social isolation, which is different.
He added: “Repeated loneliness assessments may help identify those who feel chronically lonely and are therefore at increased risk of stroke.”
“If we don’t address their feelings of loneliness, on a micro and macro scale, there could be profound health consequences.”
In older adults, loneliness is associated with a 50 percent increased risk of developing dementia and a 30 percent increased risk of coronary artery disease or stroke.
But the incidence of loneliness is also reported to be increasing among young people.
Stroke symptoms are commonly remembered by this four-letter acronym, FAST. Patients who suffer a stroke may often have their face drooping to one side, have difficulty raising both arms and difficulty speaking, while time is of the essence as immediate treatment for a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or A minor stroke can substantially reduce the risk of having a stroke. much deadlier stroke
Other telltale signs of an impending stroke, equally common, often go unnoticed. These include sudden numbness on one side of the body, sudden vertigo, and difficulty swallowing.
Age UK urged the new Government to make it a priority but said everyone can “do their bit” by having friendly chats with older people.
Director Caroline Abrahams said: “Loneliness takes the joy out of life for many of us as we get older. It can undermine resilience to life’s stresses and strains and leave us feeling disconnected and abandoned. In turn, that can have an impact on our health. Feeling depressed can make it much harder to look after our health properly and manage a health condition. It can mean we feel like there’s nowhere to turn when we’re worried about a health problem and that can put us off seeking help.
‘The Government must make preventing and tackling loneliness a policy priority, backed with the necessary funding to help older people avoid loneliness or reconnect with those who are already experiencing it.
“We at Age UK are calling on the next government to take the lead with a renewed national loneliness strategy, delivered by a dedicated minister and supported by a cross-government team.”
