Heart disease is often linked to high cholesterol, obesity, or lack of exercise. However, there is mounting evidence that suggests that mental health plays a crucial role in cardiovascular well-being. Stress, anxiety, and depression can silently strain the heart, increasing the risk of serious complications.

A recent study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, showed that loneliness has a significant impact on proteins present in a person's blood. For the study, researchers used data from more than 42,000 participants to explore whether the 9.3% who reported social isolation and 6.4% who reported loneliness had different levels of proteins in their blood compared with those who did not. The researchers then studied data that tracked the health of participants over an average 14-year period.

"We found around 90% of these proteins are linked to the risk of mortality," Dr Chun Shen, Fudan University in China, who is also the lead researcher said. "In addition, about 50% of the proteins were linked to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke," he added.

Dr Shrey Kumar Srivastav, senior consultant at Sharda Hospital, said that subtle symptoms of heart disease, such as fatigue, shortness of breath, swelling in the lower legs, dizziness, and jaw pain, are often overlooked or attributed to stress and ageing. "Women, in particular, may experience atypical signs like extreme fatigue, indigestion, or upper abdominal pain instead of classic chest pain, leading to delayed diagnosis," he added.

Can Mental Health Issues Trigger Heart Diseases?

Chronic stress can trigger harmful cardiovascular effects, including elevated blood pressure, increased heart rate, and inflammation—key contributors to heart disease. Anxiety and depression further impact heart health by disrupting sleep patterns, raising stress hormone levels, and encouraging unhealthy habits like poor diet and inactivity.

Mental health issues like depression and anxiety have a profound impact on the heart. They don’t just affect emotions but can increase inflammation and put extra strain on the cardiovascular system, warns Dr Srivastav.

Certain risk factors, such as obesity and diabetes, disproportionately affect women, making them more vulnerable to heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). However, due to gender-specific symptom variations, heart disease in women often goes undiagnosed for longer.

Obesity is more prevalent in women than men and is a major risk factor for heart failure. Diabetes, too, has a greater impact on women’s heart health, yet diagnosis and treatment delays are common. Addressing this gap requires increasing awareness, training healthcare providers, and promoting early diagnostic tools,” explains Dr Srivastav.

How Can You Protect Your Heart?

A simple yet effective way to support heart health is by committing to a brisk 30-minute walk daily. Walking not only helps regulate blood pressure and manage weight but also improves circulation and reduces stress.

"Regular physical activity, paired with a heart-healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins, significantly lowers cardiovascular risks," advises Dr Srivastav.

Heart disease can often go undetected until a major event occurs, making routine screenings essential.

- For women: Begin screenings around age 30 and continue with regular checkups.

- For men: Start screenings at age 35.

Health screenings, including blood pressure checks, cholesterol tests, and electrocardiograms (ECGs), are critical for early detection of silent heart conditions.

Two Indian nationals onboard the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius cruise ship are healthy and unsymptomatic, the Embassy of India in Madrid said on May 10.

The Dutch-flagged vessel MV Hondius, with more than 90 people, including two Indian Crew members, arrived in Spain's Canary Islands on May 10.

They have been medically evacuated to the Netherlands, the embassy said.

"The 2 Indian nationals are healthy and asymptomatic. As informed by the Spanish National Center for Emergency Monitoring and Coordination (CENEM), the 2 Indian nationals who were travelling as crew members have been evacuated to the Netherlands, where they will be quarantined as per relevant health safety protocol," it said, in a statement.

While the residents of the Canary Islands had voiced concerns that its arrival could pose a potential health risk, the Spanish government, in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO), agreed to allow passengers to disembark in the Canary Islands this weekend. The ship had travelled from Cape Verde, where three people were evacuated earlier due to illness.

All the passengers onboard disembarked from the ship in accordance with the protocol established by the WHO and the Spanish authorities.

"The Ambassador is in close contact with the Spanish authorities and the 2 Indian nationals (crew members) and is regularly monitoring the situation to assure the well-being and safety of the Indian nationals," the statement further added.

How Were The Passengers Evacuated?

As per the World Health Organization (WHO), the MV Hondius had six passengers with confirmed cases of hantavirus and two with suspected cases.

Three of those people have died, officials said, including two who died while aboard the ship.

An image of passengers disembarking from the ship on Sunday showed people dressed in personal protective equipment being taken to shore aboard a small boat, NBC News reported.

The first plane carrying passengers departed Tenerife for the Spanish capital Madrid shortly afterward.

Earlier, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s head of epidemic and pandemic preparedness, said that after being brought to shore, passengers will be kept cordoned off from the public and taken to repatriation flights.

In their home countries, many will be taken onward to isolation facilities. Van Kerkhove said that the WHO is recommending “active monitoring and follow-up” for all passengers and crew for 42 days from their “last point of exposure” to a confirmed case.

Speaking to reporters in Tenerife on Sunday, Monica Garcia, Spain’s Minister of Health, said that all passengers on the ship continue to be “asymptomatic.”

Garcia said passengers from the Netherlands would be the next group to leave the vessel, with their plane also carrying German, Belgian, and Greek passengers, as well as part of the crew.

Once ashore, the passengers were expected to be transferred onto buses and taken to the local airport. Passengers from Turkey, France, ⁠the UK, and the US will then be evacuated, followed by six people from “Australia, New Zealand and Asia,” she said, as part of the last flight planned for Monday.

Also read: Hantavirus Outbreak: How MV Hondius Passengers Will Be Screened And Evacuated

WHO, CDC, ECDC Teams Monitoring Arrivals

In its latest briefing, the UN health body said emergency response teams, including experts from the Netherlands and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), are coordinating efforts to manage the situation and assess all passengers and crew upon arrival.

A WHO official is currently on board alongside two Dutch healthcare workers and an ECDC expert.

WHO Technical Officer Anais Legand said health teams will review the exposure history of every passenger and crew member to determine who may face a higher risk of infection.

Read More: WHO Says 6-Week Hantavirus Incubation Raises Concern, But No Epidemic Risk

Passengers will also be screened for symptoms such as fever, fatigue, or signs of illness.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it plans to evacuate American passengers aboard the ship on a US government medical repatriation flight to Omaha, Nebraska.

The ongoing outbreak of hantavirus, a rodent-borne disease, among passengers aboard the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius has been linked to climate change, according to health experts.

So far, the outbreak has affected only people connected to the cruise ship, with eight reported cases, including three deaths. Six cases have been confirmed to be caused by the Andes strain of hantavirus.

The disease is expected to result in more cases as public health officials across 12 countries — including the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands — continue contact tracing and screening efforts. In addition, the disease’s incubation period, which can last several weeks, may make screening more difficult.

According to the World Health Organization, an elderly Dutch couple may have brought the virus aboard after possibly contracting it through rodent exposure during a bird-watching tour near a landfill in Ushuaia, days before the ship departed from Argentina. Both the husband and wife later died.

Hantavirus Outbreak: Why It May be Linked To Climate Change

Experts have blamed climate change and habitat destruction for the rise in cases of the disease, which is usually caused by exposure to the urine or feces of infected rodents.

Rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and habitat destruction are driving rodents closer to human populations, increasing the risk of hantavirus transmission through contaminated urine, droppings, or saliva.

“Climate change and rodents are closely linked, particularly because global warming creates conditions that favor the spread and survival of many rodent species, including rats. Rising temperatures make previously colder regions more suitable for rodents, allowing them to expand their geographical range into areas where they were once less common,” said Dr. Rajeev Jayadevan, convenor of the IMA research cell, in a statement to HealthandMe.

In general, colder regions tend to have fewer rats, but warming temperatures are changing that pattern.

“Increasing human interaction with wild environments, habitat destruction, the establishment of small urbanizations in rural areas, and the effects of climate change contribute to the appearance of cases outside historically endemic areas,” Argentina’s health ministry said in a statement.

Dr. Jayadevan added that higher temperatures can also make rodent reproductive cycles more efficient.

“Since rodents are mammals, warmer weather may allow them to reproduce more frequently within a year, leading to larger populations over time. Even a small increase in reproductive cycles can significantly boost rodent numbers on a community scale, especially when food supplies are abundant,” he said.

Also read: Hantavirus: Israel Confirms 1st Case as UK, Spain Probe Suspected Infections; Should You Be Worried?

Hantavirus: Flooding and Urbanization Raising Risks

Climate change also contributes to extreme weather events such as flooding, which can further increase human-rodent interaction.

Notably, floods may destroy crops and disrupt natural food sources, forcing rodents to migrate into homes and urban areas in search of food and shelter. This closer contact between humans and rodents can increase the risk of rodent-borne diseases spreading.

Dr. Ishwar Gilada, an infectious disease expert based in Mumbai, said that climate change, flooding, overcrowding, poor sanitation, rapid urbanization, and ecological disruption can all increase the risk of zoonotic infections, including hantavirus.

“Floods and heavy rainfall often force rodents into human settlements, while garbage accumulation, slums, warehouses, and poorly planned urban growth create ideal conditions for rodent breeding and human exposure,” Dr. Gilada said.

These conditions increase the likelihood of contact with contaminated urine or droppings.

Read More: Donald Trump Says Hantavirus Is 'Under Control'; Questions Grow Over CDC Research Cuts

‘One Health’ Approach Key to Future Preparedness

Dr. Gilada also highlighted the growing importance of the “One Health” approach, which recognizes the close connection between human, animal, and environmental health.

“Although hantavirus remains uncommon in India and is not currently considered a major public health threat, the broader lesson is the importance of long-term preparedness through improved sanitation, rodent control, environmental management, and stronger disease surveillance systems,” he said.

The MV Hondius cruise ship, hit by an outbreak of hantavirus, is expected to reach the Canary Islands on May 10.

The vessel is set to dock near Tenerife, where residents have voiced concerns that its arrival could pose a potential health risk.

The Spanish government, in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO), has agreed to allow passengers to disembark in the Canary Islands this weekend. The ship had travelled from Cape Verde, where three people were evacuated earlier due to illness.

According to the WHO, none of the passengers currently on board are showing symptoms of hantavirus.

Spain Issues Quarantine Measures

Despite the absence of symptoms among current passengers, Spain’s Health Ministry has announced strict quarantine protocols.

“All people considered contacts — those who remained on the ship between April 1 and May 10, or were in contact with a confirmed case — must undergo mandatory quarantine at the Central Hospital of the Gómez Ulla Defense in Madrid,” the ministry said.

Passengers will remain in individual rooms with no visitors allowed.

“During this period, they will undergo a PCR test upon arrival and another seven days later,” the ministry added.

Authorities will also carry out active surveillance, including twice-daily temperature checks to identify symptoms early.

If a laboratory test is positive by the National Microbiology Center, the patient will become a confirmed case and will be admitted to a High Level Isolation and Treatment Unit (UATAN) until clinical recovery.

WHO, CDC, ECDC Teams Monitoring Arrivals

According to media reports, more than 90 people from 23 nationalities remain aboard the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius. This includes: 38 Filipinos, 23 Britons, 17 Americans, 2 Indians and 14 Spaniards.

The 14 Spanish passengers will be transferred to Gómez Ulla Hospital in Madrid, where they will undergo a 45-day quarantine. Crew members from other countries will be repatriated to their respective nations.

WHO said it has developed and shared technical guidance documents in support of countries affected by the event, including covering management of the event on the ship, investigation of cases, disembarkation and management of returning passengers and crew members.

In its latest briefing, the UN health body said emergency response teams, including experts from the Netherlands and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), are coordinating efforts to manage the situation and assess all passengers and crew upon arrival.

A WHO official is currently on board alongside two Dutch healthcare workers and an ECDC expert.

WHO Technical Officer Anais Legand said health teams will review the exposure history of every passenger and crew member to determine who may face a higher risk of infection.

Passengers will also be screened for symptoms such as fever, fatigue, or signs of illness.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it plans to evacuate American passengers aboard the ship on a US government medical repatriation flight to Omaha, Nebraska.

Confirmed Andes Virus Cases

The WHO confirmed that six cases have tested positive for Andes virus, which can spread from person to person, through PCR testing.

The ship had 147 passengers and crew members on board when the outbreak was first reported on May 2, while another 34 people had already left the vessel.

Also read: Hantavirus: Israel Confirms 1st Case as UK, Spain Probe Suspected Infections; Should You Be Worried?

Four patients remain hospitalized in South Africa, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. A suspected case transferred to Germany later tested negative.

Contact Tracing Underway

Health authorities said contact tracing efforts will focus on identifying and assessing everyone who may have been exposed on board, particularly those who had close contact with confirmed or suspected cases.

Officials are evaluating several factors, including the incubation period, infectious stage of the virus, and overall risk profiles.

“You want to understand whether this person might be more likely to be sick,” Legand explained. Currently, there is no treatment or vaccine available for hantavirus.

What Is Hantavirus?

Read More: WHO Says 6-Week Hantavirus Incubation Raises Concern, But No Epidemic Risk

Hantavirus is primarily transmitted through contact with infected rodents or exposure to their urine, droppings, and saliva, though rare cases of person-to-person transmission have also been reported.

While hantavirus carries a mortality rate of up to 40 percent, the WHO stated that the overall global risk remains low.

According to the CDC, symptoms can appear one to eight weeks after exposure, initially presenting fatigue, fever, and muscle aches. As the disease progresses, it can cause coughing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness as fluid accumulates in the lungs.