Heart Health Women's Heart Health

Is Living Alone Hurting Your Heart?

Living without a roommate or spouse can sometimes feel like complete freedom, but a new study suggests that living by yourself may double your risk of serious heart disease.

Researchers from the University of Aarhus, Denmark have found that women over the age of 60 and men over the age of 50 who lived alone were twice as likely to have acute coronary syndrome, a condition that may include severe angina, heart attack or sudden cardiac death.

“High age and single living are the strongest predictors of acute coronary syndrome,” write the researchers in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

For the study, researchers tracked the health status of over 138,000 men and women between the ages of 30 and 69 for two years. During this time period, 646 were diagnosed with at least one symptom of acute coronary syndrome.

After looking at the factors that seemed to be tied to these heart conditions, low education levels and living on a pension were seen as somewhat linked to an increased risk. However, living alone and age were most strongly linked to this risk.

In fact, while women who lived alone comprised only 5 percent of the female study population, they accounted for one-third of all deaths from acute coronary syndrome within 30 days of diagnosis. The lone men, who were only 8 percent of the male population in the study, accounted for two-thirds of all male deaths.

But while living alone doesn’t seem to be heart healthy, women divorcees seemed to enjoy a lower risk of this syndrome, along with those who worked and had a high level of education.

The authors speculate that living alone tends to promote certain unhealthy traits, like obesity, high cholesterol and fewer doctors’ visits, making their heart disease risk that much higher. Additionally, social support may be less available to a person living by him or herself.