Loneliness Over 50 Increases Blood Pressure

Two days ago I wrote about how women can adapt their lifestyle to avoid high blood pressure.  A new factor has emerged, however, that may be overlooked by patient and doctor alike.  It’s a growing problem in today’s environment, and a study demonstrating its effect is described in the journal Psychology and Aging.

University of Chicago researchers enrolled 229 men and women aged 50 to 68 with mixed ethnic and demographic backgrounds who were part of a long-term study on aging.  Participants were given a questionnaire aimed at determining if they perceived themselves as lonely, such as being asked to rate such topics as: “I have a lot in common with people around me”, “My social relationships are superficial”, and “I can find companionship when I want it”.  The subjects were classified according to their degrees of loneliness, and had regular blood pressure readings over the 4-year period of the study.        

Analysis showed that loneliness at the study onset predicted increases of systolic blood pressure at 2, 3, and 4 years later.  The loneliest group of subjects had an increase of 14 mm Hg (systolic) over the non-lonely subjects.

It’s known that loneliness is associated with depression, and this was also seen in this study.  However, the association between loneliness and increase in systolic pressure was not influenced by the presence or absence of depression.

This is an interesting finding.  The problem is, loneliness is difficult to “treat”, even though antihypertensive drugs are effective in lowering blood pressure.  So if you have a neighbor or friend who is clearly lonely, you could try to draw him or her out a bit, and offer companionship, if it’s welcomed.