Christmas holidays. Let’s pay attention to the table, let’s remember not to overdo it with excessively fatty dishes, we find time for physical activity. But we also add a pinch of attention for those who are older in years, to avoid that they feel alone during the holidays, perhaps even more than in the rest of the year.
The feeling of loneliness, with the consequent social isolation, can in fact become a real one cardiovascular risk factor additional, as well as hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, overweight. And the weight of this element should not be underestimated. Social isolation would increase the likelihood of suffering a cardiovascular event such as heart attack or stroke by 66% for a healthy elderly person. In the presence of a lack of social support, then, the risk would increase by 50%, obviously compared to those who have a socially “warm” and engaging environment that offers stimuli and above all company. All this, it must be said, without considering the risk factors commonly considered.
A research coordinated by Rosanne Freak-Poli Monash University, which appeared on BMC Geriatrics which indicates that loneliness and social isolation can be considered potential predictors of cardiovascular risk. To reach this conclusion, the experts reviewed the social and clinical data of the ASPREE study (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) and of a further portion of the study, for a total of almost 11,500 people over-70 of both sexes followed on average. for just under five years.
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The research also made it possible to define the “thresholds” beyond which to speak of a lack of social support and loneliness, offering all parameters that should not be underestimated. Loneliness was considered as such when a person reported feeling lonely at least three days a week. Social isolation, on the other hand, was defined as the substantial detachment from opportunities for meeting and activities with others and the scarcity of contacts, which did not exceed four relatives and close friends per month.
These parameters could therefore become, in the future, a sort of alarm “threshold” also on the cardiovascular prevention front. “The correlation between social status, with reference to isolation and a greater tendency to depression, and prognosis and survival of people with cardiovascular diseases has long been known – reports Francesco Landi, President of the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics (Sigg). Various researches show that with the same pathological conditions such as a heart attack, after returning home those who have a welcoming environment and in company compared to those who find themselves at home alone or even are transferred to a residential facility after discharge from the hospital . In those without adequate family support, the prognosis is worse. Loneliness, with what it also entails on the front of life habits, first of all sedentary lifestyle and dietary changes with the relative tendency to depression, therefore affects both the risk of developing problems and the course of diseases that may already be present. ”
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