--- title: Heart Attack: Close Communities May Reduce Risk in Over-50s description: A study suggests that warm neighborly ties can reduce the risk of heart attacks in people over the age of 50. canonical: https://time.com/3142543/heart-disease-risk-neighborhood-university-of-michigan/ author: Melissa Hellmann article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-19T08:40:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:44:15.213Z article:section: Health og:title: Having Good Neighbors May Cut Your Heart Attack Risk og:description: A new study says strong community ties could cut heart attacks in the over 50s by up to 67% og:url: https://time.com/3142543/heart-disease-risk-neighborhood-university-of-michigan/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcee7f942498dab99/69869ffef983e7a69a04f462/481684245.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5100 og:image:height: 2869 og:image:alt: Medical Check-up og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Having Good Neighbors May Cut Your Heart Attack Risk twitter:description: A new study says strong community ties could cut heart attacks in the over 50s by up to 67% twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcee7f942498dab99/69869ffef983e7a69a04f462/481684245.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Having Good Neighbors Could Reduce Heart Attacks in the Over-50s > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Melissa Hellmann](https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Aug 19, 2014 8:40 AM UTC  A patient has a medical check-up in Lille's Institut Pasteur (IPL) in France. A patient has a medical check-up in Lille's Institut Pasteur (IPL) in France. BSIP/UIG—Getty Images by [Melissa Hellmann](https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Aug 19, 2014 8:40 AM UTC A new study by researchers from the University of Michigan [appears to suggest](http://news.yahoo.com/love-thy-neighbour-good-heart-study-224651369.html) that close community ties reduce heart-attack risk for people over 50. Researchers say previous data shows that some aspects of a person’s neighborhood — such as the amount of violence and the prevalence of fast-food restaurants — can elevate heart-attack risk, but this is the first study that reveals the cardiovascular benefits of “neighborhood social cohesion,” [reports AFP](http://news.yahoo.com/love-thy-neighbour-good-heart-study-224651369.html). The research, which was [published](http://www.academia.edu/7517147/Perceived%5Fneighborhood%5Fsocial%5Fcohesion%5Fand%5Fmyocardial%5Finfarction) in the _Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health_ on Tuesday, monitored the cardiovascular health of 5,276 participants who were over the age of 50 and had never had a heart attack. The participants, who were mostly married women with an average age of 70, were involved in an ongoing Health and Retirement Study in the U.S. Beginning in 2006, participants were asked to rate, on a seven-point scale, whether their neighbors were trustworthy, reliable and friendly, and if they felt connected to their community. During the study, 148 of the participants had a heart attack. Although data was adjusted to account for variables such as age, race and income, the four-year study revealed that every mark-up in neighborhood cohesion on the scale led to a 17% reduction in the odds of heart disease, [according](http://healthmedicinet.com/i/good-neighbors-and-friendly-local-community-may-curb-heart-attack-risk/) to the Health Medicine Network. The study’s co-author Eric Kim told AFP that those who gave a full score out of seven had a 67% reduced risk of heart attack. Researchers admitted, however, that the study had limitations, like a lack of access to the participants’ family histories of cardiovascular disease. “This is an observational study, so no definitive conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect,” researchers emphasized. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3142543/heart-disease-risk-neighborhood-university-of-michigan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3142543/heart-disease-risk-neighborhood-university-of-michigan/"},"headline":"Having Good Neighbors Could Reduce Heart Attacks in the Over-50s","datePublished":"2014-08-19T08:40:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:44:15.213Z","description":"A study finds that participants who rate their communities the highest have an almost 70% reduced risk of heart attack","url":"https://time.com/3142543/heart-disease-risk-neighborhood-university-of-michigan/","keywords":["Research","Heart Disease","study","health","heart attack","university of michigan"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcee7f942498dab99/69869ffef983e7a69a04f462/481684245.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Hellmann","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcee7f942498dab99/69869ffef983e7a69a04f462/481684245.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Medical Check-up","caption":"Medical Check-up","creditText":"BSIP/UIG—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3142543/heart-disease-risk-neighborhood-university-of-michigan/","name":"Having Good Neighbors Could Reduce Heart Attacks in the Over-50s"}}]}] ```