Absence makes the heart grow weaker
| Loneliness is bad for the heart, suggests a new study. It shows that loneliness increases the blood pressure of those nearing retirement age to the same degree as smoking or a sedentary lifestyle. Chronic feelings of social isolation are associated with as much as a 30 mmHg rise in a person’s systolic blood pressure by the age of 65, which could easily push their systolic blood pressure over 150 mmHg, the medical definition of hypertension. The study showed that this is independent of other confounding variables such as smoking, drinking, socioeconomic status and body mass index. “While we haven’t conclusively proven why this happens, the pieces are starting to fall into place,” says John Cacioppo, a psychologist at the University of Chicago, US, who conducted the research. “This shows that how we deal with isolation changes as we age on both emotional and physical levels,” says Sarah Pressman, a health psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University. “This is not something that’s all in your head.” Read more... This was seized 4 u at New Scientist
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