A new research in UK points out that being cut off from family, friends and social network poses a death risk to older people. This study was conducted on 6,500 men and women in UK, aged over 52 years. BBC reported that study has found out that being isolated from family and friends was linked with a 26 per cent higher death risk over seven years. Research is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, UK. The number of people who are likely to be lonely is rising all over the world. Many of these are elderly, left by themselves after their partners have died or their families have moved away. Study leader Prof Andrew Steptoe, director of the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care at University College London said, “Social connections can provide emotional support and warmth which is important but they also provide things like advice, making sure people take their medication and provide support in helping them to do things.” Michelle Mitchell, Director General at Age UK, added: “This study shows more clearly than before that being lonely and isolated is not only miserable, it is a real health risk, increasing the risk of early death." Today, too many older people are hidden behind closed doors struggling to cope. Loneliness can bring illness. Loneliness is thought to be rising around the world and how often you see family and friends could have a significant effect on health. Doctors have known for some time that loneliness is bad for the mind. It leads to mental health problems like depression, stress, anxiety, and a lack of confidence. In another study at Yale University, lead investigator Gretchen Hermes noted: “There is growing interest in relationships between the environment, emotion and disease. There's growing agreement in medical community that social isolation is connected with an increased risk of physical ill health as well. There are suggestions that loneliness can make some diseases both more likely to occur and more likely to be fatal.” |
An earlier investigative study (2006), of 2,800 women who had breast cancer showed those who saw few friends or family were as much as five times more likely to die of their disease than women with many social contacts. Psychologists at University of Chicago and Ohio State University have shown that people who are socially isolated develop changes in their immune system, which leads to a condition called chronic inflammation. Short term inflammation is necessary for us to heal after a cut or an infection, but if the inflammation persists in the long-term it can contribute towards cardiovascular disease and cancer. Scientists of University of Chicago, have also observed that lonely people find everyday activities more stressful than those who are not socially isolated. They measured levels of cortisol, a hormone that's produced when we are stressed, in a wide range of healthy people in the morning and evening. Lonely people released more cortisol. The scientists suggest that too much of the hormone causes inflammation and disease. Abridged from BBC Health News Articles: 1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21929197 |
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