Being surrounded by loved ones is the key to a healthy heart, study finds

LOVE, actually, and spending time with friends and family is the key to a healthy heart, according to research.

Being surrounded by loved ones was found to reduce stress chemicals and boost happy hormones.

It meant people who have quality social time — including at Christmas — have lower rates of heart attacks due to different proteins in the blood.

Cambridge University studied blood samples from 42,000 middle-aged Brits and linked dozens of proteins to loneliness after finding them in people who spent long periods alone.

There were 175 proteins linked to social isolation and 26 with loneliness.

Isolation was measured by facts such as whether someone lived alone, while loneliness was scored by feelings.

Many of the proteins were linked to swelling in the blood vessels — indicating a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and dying young.

Study author Dr Chun Shen said: “We know that social isolation and loneliness are linked to poorer health but we’ve never understood why.

“Our work has highlighted a number of proteins that appear to play a key role.”

Past research shows loneliness can weaken the immune system and raise the risk of depression and dementia.

Prof Barbara Sahakian said: “More people of all ages are reporting feeling lonely.”

The World Health Organisation calls it a global public health concern.