Two factors that increase your risk of stroke and a heart attack, as per study

Experiencing a stroke or a heart attack can be life-threatening. These are two of the leading causes of deaths worldwide. While a stroke is characterised by arm weakness, drooping face and speech difficulty, a heart attack can cause chest discomfort, pain in other areas of the upper body, shortness of breath and other signs including cold sweat, nausea and dizziness.

In order to prevent these two silent killer diseases, one must be aware of all the risk factors associated with the ailment.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the leading risk factors for heart disease and stroke are high blood pressure, high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and secondhand smoke exposure, obesity, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity.

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Stroke and heart attack are often called 'silent killers'. This is because, both these diseases do not always show signs or any early symptoms, causing negligence and leading to deaths. Many times, people don't usually develop symptoms until it's already too late and in certain cases, people misdiagnose the symptoms or mistake it for other benign illnesses.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), social isolation and loneliness can increase the risk of both a heart attack and a stroke by 30 percent.

The study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, found that these two factors could be 'significant' predictors of the diseases.

Crystal Wiley Cene, who is the chair of the writing committee, which led the study, said, "Over four decades of research has clearly demonstrated that social isolation and loneliness are both associated with adverse health outcomes.

“Given the prevalence of social disconnectedness across the U.S., the public health impact is quite significant," she adds.

As per the study authors, social isolation and loneliness seemed to increase with age due to factors including losing a loved one and retirement.

However, the study notes that while older adults were more at risk, younger people were also at a risk of loneliness.

According to a Harvard University survey, members of Generation Z i.e. between the ages of 18 and 22, were considered to be the loneliest generation.

This was said to be an outcome of less engagement in meaningful social activities and increased social media use.

Study author Cene said, “Although social isolation and feeling lonely are related, they are not the same thing.

“Individuals can lead a relatively isolated life and not feel lonely, and conversely, people with many social contacts may still experience loneliness,” she added.

Having said that, while loneliness is the distressing feeling of being alone or having little connection with people, social isolation is the lack of social contacts or having no in-person contact or interaction with people. Therefore, while the two terms are related, they are somehow different.

According to the researchers, social isolation and loneliness should be taken more seriously as they can be strong risk factors for a stroke or a heart attack.

Cene said: “There is an urgent need to develop, implement and evaluate programmes and strategies to reduce the negative effects of social isolation and loneliness on cardiovascular and brain health, particularly for at-risk populations.”

The researchers further suggested that medical professionals should “ask patients about the frequency of their social activity and whether they are satisfied with their level of interactions with friends and family”.

Apart from taking social isolation and loneliness into consideration, one must pay close attention to their lifestyle.

Most of the risk factors associated with heart disease have to do with one's diet, level of activity and one's association with unhealthy habits.

That said, eat healthy, nutritious foods. Practice control and indulge in regular exercise. Additionally, quit smoking or alcohol consumption as these greatly increase one's risk of heart diseases and stroke.