Friends fill our hearts in countless ways: they make us laugh, give us advice, and share quality time with us — activities that can contribute to healthier aging. And according to research, our friendships can promote cardiovascular wellness, too.
Stress is a well-established contributing factor to heart disease: it can disrupt our sleep and raise our blood pressure, leading to inflammation (炎症). Think about the weight that’s lifted when you talk through a problem with a friend — that itself is a stress management strategy, according to experts. Dr. Roy Ziegelstein says, “Individuals with meaningful friendships manage stressful situations better and have lower blood pressure and inflammation as part of those responses.”
The landmark Framingham Heart Study, which followed thousands of people across three generations to learn more about cardiovascular risk factors, found that social networks were highly influential in participants’ decisions to quit smoking — a major cause of heart disease. “Social support, especially from people with good health habits, helps people adopt and maintain good habits like eating right and exercising, and also helps avoid bad habits,” Dr. Ziegelstein says. In addition to promoting preventative care, good friends might urge us to seek medical advice when unwell. “Meaningful relationships make it less likely for a person to ignore potentially concerning symptoms of heart disease and seek needed medical attention that can be lifesaving,” Dr. Ziegelstein adds.
Anxiety and depression are known risk factors for the development of heart diseases. The effect of loneliness on heart disease risk is “similar to smoking or obesity”, according to Alan Rozanski, MD, a heart disease expert at Mount Sinai. To combat these negative emotions, he encourages meaningful social connection with loved ones beyond just quick digital check-ins, which he notes can lack depth. If you’re feeling down, call a friend and make a plan — your heart will thank you.
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