It is not just your age, lifestyle and overall health that could be putting you at risk of a stroke, but how often you feel lonely and isolated, a new study has found.
Strokes are a life-threatening emergency that occur when blood supply to part of the brain is cut off. This is often caused by a clot that has interrupted the flow of blood, but it can also be the result of a blood vessel bursting.
There are a number of factors that can raise your likelihood of having a stroke – if you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes you are more likely to experience one, for example. As is the case with many medical issues, lifestyle habits can also influence your risk of a stroke.
It is therefore recommended by the NHS that you quit smoking, cut back on alcohol, exercise regularly and eat a healthy balanced diet to reduce your chances. But another potential risk factor that affects millions of Brits has been uncovered in a new study.
Research, published in The Lancet journal, revealed that people who feel lonely for long periods of time are more vulnerable to a stroke. More specifically, participants who said they felt lonely at two points four years apart were found to be at a 56 percent higher risk. This study is the first time long-term loneliness had been considered in this way, as previous studies had only taken it into account at a single time.
As part of the research, a team used data from the Health and Retirement Study in the US, conducted from 2006 to 2018. They focused on participants aged 50 and above with two recorded measurements of loneliness who had never had a stroke before, totalling 8,936 participants.
Participants were grouped depending on the severity of their loneliness and whether it occurred on just the first interview (remitting) or the second (recent). Remitting and recent participants were found to be 25 percent more likely to have a stroke, while people with low loneliness scores were found to be at no increased risk.
Those with a consistently high loneliness pattern over time had significantly higher incident stroke risk – 56 percent – compared to those with a consistently low loneliness pattern. This could mean millions of Brits are at risk for a stroke.
According to the Campaign to End Loneliness, 49 percent of adults in the UK reported feeling lonely occasionally, sometimes, often or always in 2022. And 7.1 percent of people (3.83 million) experience chronic loneliness, meaning they feel lonely “often or always”.
The study summarised: “In conclusion, loneliness can result in a higher risk for incident stroke and those experiencing chronic loneliness may be particularly at risk. Addressing loneliness may have an important role in the prevention of incident stroke.”
But the team noted that further research was needed to cement the connection. ”Future studies should examine more comprehensive loneliness trajectories over time to examine whether the association is sustained, examine the underlying mechanisms between loneliness and incident stroke, and whether interventions targeting loneliness are effective in preventing stroke,” they said.
The main symptoms of stroke can be remembered with the word FAST:
- Face – the face may have dropped on one side, the person may not be able to smile, or their mouth or eye may have dropped
- Arms – the person with suspected stroke may not be able to lift both arms and keep them there because of weakness or numbness in one arm
- Speech – their speech may be slurred or garbled, or the person may not be able to talk at all despite appearing to be awake; they may also have problems understanding what you’re saying to them
- Time – it’s time to dial 999 immediately if you see any of these signs or symptoms.
If you think someone is experiencing a stroke you should call 999.
