“When a love ends”, sang Riccardo Cocciante. And in the lyrics of the song he described some sensations that recall signs and symptoms of heart pain. Moving from music to reality, a love that ends up affecting the psyche could also have repercussions on the mechanisms of inflammation, raising the risk threshold for cardiovascular problems, such as the rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque along an artery with consequent blocking of circulation. blood or the appearance of myocarditis. At least in men, these mechanisms could also favor a temporary increase in dangers to the heart, also because they often add to loneliness and bad habits that can worsen when left alone, from excessive alcohol consumption to smoking.
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To reveal this secret, warning those who have a series of unhappy relationships behind them and therefore often find themselves alone, is an original research conducted in Denmark by the team coordinated by Rikke Lund and Karolina Koch, of the Department of Social Medicine of the University of Copenhagen. The study, published in Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, examined more than 4800 people between 48 and 62 years, paying particular attention to the end of one or more idylls in the observation period and the number of years that the participants spent alone. The information was taken from a national database, the Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank and obviously included parameters such as body weight, lifestyle habits, personality assessment and obviously – this is the novelty – the presence of inflammation considering two parameters that come into play in this reaction: theinterleukin-6 (IL-6) and the C Reactive protein. The higher values of these two parameters were observed in men who had had a higher number of “crashes” in the couple’s life, with rates equal to 17% more, on average, compared to the control group. The period of prolonged loneliness also affected this figure, at least in the male population: those who spent seven or more years alone found themselves with higher levels of inflammation indicators up to 12% over time, again in comparison to those who instead he lived peacefully with his partner. In women, the same type of situation was not observed.
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According to the Danish scholars this could be linked to the small size of the female sample, less than a third of the population studied, but also to the different ways of reacting: in general, in fact, women tend to internalize the pain for the end of a relationship, with traits that can go more easily towards depression (also a cardiovascular risk factor) while males have a more tendency to externalize the discomfort linked to loneliness, with unhealthy lifestyle habits and alcohol consumption. While inflammation parameters have grown without being literally “shot” up in people more often (and for longer) alone, the condition may be associated with a greater likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes, the researchers say.
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“We now know that inflammation plays a key role in coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis in general,” he comments Ciro Indolfi, President of the Italian Society of Cardiology (SIC). Cells of the immune system come into play in early atherosclerotic lesions by accelerating the progression of strictures and activating inflammation that can then lead to myocardial infarction. Some white blood cells, called T cells, play a key role in the immune system because they determine how the body reacts to certain pathogens. Cytokines produced by T lymphocytes cause the production of molecules such as interleukin 6 and C-reactive protein. In this way, the activation of a limited number of immune cells can initiate a powerful inflammatory cascade. Therefore atherosclerosis, the main cause of heart attack, is essentially an inflammatory disease with which immune mechanisms and metabolic risk factors interact to initiate, propagate and activate lesions in the coronary tree “.
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In short: we pay attention to inflammation. if it is true that a few years ago it was thought that the treatment of hypercholesterolemia and hypertension could eliminate coronary heart disease by the end of the twentieth century, cardiovascular disease remains the most common cause of death today. “These facts force us to also consider new risk factors, such as those described in this study, to enhance prevention and treatment – concludes the expert. So we must especially advise those who have lost their partner a greater attention to the factors of risks such as cigarette smoking, excess alcohol, high-fat diet, physical inactivity and careful control of hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol to avoid an increase in heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases “.
Prevention
In short, prevention remains the fundamental key. For everyone. For those who live a happy liaison and especially for those who are alone. So let’s keep an eye on it. An opportunity is offered by Foundation for your heart of the Italian Hospital Cardiologists ANMCO, which on Valentine’s Day launches the national Cardiovascular Prevention initiative “for your heart 2022“, which will take place from 14 to 20 February. During the week the usual appointment of Open Cardiology: the Foundation will activate the toll-free number 800 05 22 33 dedicated to citizens who will be able to call for free, every day from 10 to 12 and from 14 to 16, and ask questions on problems related to heart disease, to which more than 660 ANMCO Cardiologists of the Structures participating in the initiative will answer, with more than 1500 hours of free cardiology consultation.
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