If you or someone you know seems lonely - here's an excuse to reach out

This blog has touched on solitude before, and there's more research that lonely, isolated people may be prone to heart disease, stroke:

Social isolation raised that risk by about 30 percent, exerting the same level of influence on heart health as risk factors such as anxiety and job stress, the British review found.

"Addressing loneliness and social isolation could have an important role in the prevention of two of the leading causes of ill health and mortality worldwide," said lead researcher Nicole Valtorta, a research fellow in the department of health sciences at the University of York.

Know someone who is ... Caregiver? Spouse? Stressed? That person is not alone

Stress is your enemy.

Photo from bottled_void
via Flickr

Stress is especially an enemy for caregivers - and those people are often prime targets for stress.

The needs of caregivers can be woefully ignored, including their own health care, which includes mental care. You should take note from this story on how stressed spouse caregivers race a higher stroke risk:

Spousal caregivers who reported being under moderate or severe strain had a 5.1% rate of incident stroke, compared with 2.6% among propensity-matched people who were not caregivers ... , Sindhu Lakkur, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues found. ...

The researchers suggested there could be a public health implication for targeting stroke prevention efforts to this higher risk group of struggling spouse caregivers. Exactly how this might be done needs further study, Lakkur told MedPage Today.

Stressed out? Then watch out - this might happen to you

Photo by bottled_void from Flickr

I was in a stressful situation - by my own making and ambition - when my stroke happened. Did that increase my risk?

A bit of an unanswerable question at this late date, but there's some research that might indicate a link that a high strain job increases stroke risk:

The association between exposure to high job strain and an increased risk of stroke was particularly pronounced in ischemic stroke and in women but not in hemorrhagic stroke or in men, according to Dingli Xu, MD, of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China, and colleagues. ...

'Keeps body and soul together'

Watch this: God’s eye is on those who respect him, the ones who are looking for his love. He’s ready to come to their rescue in bad times; in lean times he keeps body and soul together.

-Psalm 33:18 (The Message)

Ever seen bad times? If not, just wait - everyone sees them sooner or later.

In the bad times of my life, God was my lifeboat. He gave me health professionals, other experts, friends, colleagues, fellow believers - the list can go on and on. With these resources, he kept my body and soul together time and time again.

Notice that the Psalm writer didn't say you won't face bad times; just that God is with you even during those times.

Another compelling part of the verses from The Message, kind of a combo commentary and Bible reference,  talks about people who are looking for God's love. We're hard-wired, it seems, in our search for love.

Know that God's love is always there for you, coming to your rescue, keeping body and soul together.

Stress, depression may boost stroke risk

Don't ignore stress and depression - it's already serious, and it could become even more serious. Check out this recent study how stress and depression may boost stroke risk:

The study found that depression seemed to raise the risk of a stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA) by 86 percent. It also found that stress apparently raised stroke or TIA risk by 59 percent. And hostility doubled the risk, the researchers said. A TIA is a mini-stroke caused by a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain.

However, it's important to note that the study only found an association between the risk of stroke and negative emotions. It wasn't designed to prove that negative emotions can cause strokes.

Still, "chronic stress and negative emotions are important psychological factors that affect one's health, and findings from this study link these factors to brain health in particular," said the study's lead author, Susan Everson-Rose, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota.

"Patients and their health care providers should be aware that experiences of chronic stress and negative emotional states can increase risk for stroke," she noted.