Loneliness, lack of emotional support and lack of companionship or social support can leave elderly men and women vulnerable to heart problems, according to new research in the December issue of the journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Dara Sorkin, a Ph.D. candidate of the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues found that for every unit increase in loneliness as measured among older adults in their study, there was a threefold increase in the odds of being diagnosed with a heart condition.

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