A person who lives alone is twice as likely to suffer from serious heart disease when compared to a person who lives with a partner, say Danish researchers after gathering data on 138,000 adults aged 30-69, all from Aarhus, Denmark.
You can read about this study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
During 2000-2002, of the 138,000 people, 646 experienced acute coronary syndrome, e.g. severe angina, or a sustained heart attack, or a sudden heart attack.
The researchers found that susceptibility to acute coronary syndrome was slightly higher for people with lower educational qualifications as well as those who were surviving on a pension. However, susceptibility was significantly higher for people who were either living alone or/and were elderly.
Risk of acute coronary syndrome was double for women over 60 who lived alone and for men over 50 who lived alone, compared to women over 60 and men over 50 who lived with a partner. 5% of the 138,000 people were women over 60 who lived alone, 8% were men over 50 who lived alone. However, one third of all the deaths from the syndrome were women over 60 who lived alone, the other two thirds came from the men over 50 who lived alone.
Those at lowest risk were people who did not live alone, had a job and had a high level of education.
The researchers say it is not just the fact of living alone that raises the risk. There are certain lifestyle indicators as well. People who live alone tend not to go and visit their primary care physicians (GPs) so often, a higher percentage of them smoke, there is a higher incidence of obesity, and they tend to have higher cholesterol levels.
Danish Singles Have A Twofold Risk Of Acute Coronary Syndrome: Data From A Cohort Of 138,290 Persons
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2006; 60: 721-728
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today