Dutch researchers say living alone doubles your chance for serious heart disease. At the most risk are women over 60 and men over 50 living alone with possible conditions like severe angina and a history of heart attacks.

The research can be read in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Heart experts clarify that activities such as smoking and a poor diet, were more common among those who live alone.

The researchers from Aarhus Sygeus University studied a sample of more than 138,000 adults living in the area.

Age and living alone were the biggest factors for predicting someone would develop one of the conditions.

Dr Kirsten Nielsen, who led the research, said: "There is an accumulation of heart disease risk factors in people who live alone.

Ellen Mason, spokesperson for the British Heart Foundation told BBC: "Lifestyle habits linked to living alone, such as smoking and eating unhealthy food, are more of a problem than living alone itself.

He added, "The weakness of the researchers' interpretation is that many people who choose to live alone have strong social support and healthy lifestyles, all of which help keep their heart healthy."