New study hints loneliness can play a big role in person’s health

Posted by admin

July 8, 2012

When it comes to health, loneliness seems to matter, suggests a new study that found a connection between feeling lonely and shorter lifespans.

The study appeared in June in the Archives of Internal Medicine and focused on a specific population: adults over the age of 60. As study participants were tracked over six years, those who self-reported feelings of loneliness were more likely to experience “functional decline” — i.e. decreased mobility, difficulty with activities of daily living and so on — and also died sooner.

The study piggybacks on another piece of research, also published last month in the Archives of Internal Medicine, that found increased mortality among adults who had heart disease or were at high risk of heart disease and who lived alone.

So does this mean loneliness is a threat to health? Some of the headlines have been blunt in concluding this — “Being lonely can kill you, studies say,” to name just one.

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