“There lack of social relationships can have a effect on the mortality as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day». Citing scientific research, Vivek Murthy, the country’s Surgeon General, the executive head of the Commissary Corps of the United States Public Health Service, wrote this in the report published last year, dedicated to loneliness and isolation. as “the nation’s doctor”, is to contribute to laying the foundations for a healthier country: “In recent years, about one in two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness. And this was before Covid. Loneliness it’s much more than a negative feeling: It harms individual and social health».
Increases the risk of heart disease and stroke
The situation in Europe is no different. «In 2018, two thirds of the population in Germany believed that loneliness a serious problem. In the same year, a quarter of the population in Sweden said they were alone frequently. In 2017, 2 out of 5 people in Switzerland declared that they sometimes, often or always felt alone”, begins Micaela Castiglioni, professor of adult and elderly education at the University of Milan Bicocca where she recently organized a conference entitled Contemporary solitudes.
«The context of the United Kingdoma country among the pioneers in establishing in 2018 the ministry and the Minister of Solitude. The same thing happened in Japan. We should also think about creating a ministry or department to deal with this phenomenon which has a high cost” adds Castiglioni.
L’need to create an institutional figure recalls the importance of other data that appeared in Surgeon General Murthy’s report which states that a poor or insufficient social bond And associated with an increased risk of pathologiesincluding a 29% increase in the risk of heart disease and a 32% increase in the risk of stroke.
Lower risks for those who frequent friends and family
Confirmation also comes from research published last November on BMC Medicine. The researchers analyzed data from more than 458,000 participants, aged between 38 and 73, in the UK Biobank database who answered questions about their social ties.
After about 12 and a half years, about 33 thousand had died, of which more than 5 thousand from cardiovascular diseases.
The social bond was valued by researchers using two functional measures (frequency of the ability to confide with someone close and often feeling alone) and three structural measures (frequency of visits from friends/family, weekly group activities and living alone).
They all had an impact. Who received visits at least monthly aside of friends and relatives had a lower risk of dying.
Different types of loneliness
Exist different types of lonelinessas reported by a survey published on Prospero (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews): emotionalwhich is the perceived lack of meaningful relationships, including intimate bonds; sociali.e. the feeling that one’s network of social relationships is somehow lacking, is a personal evaluation of the gap between how many social contacts we desire and how many we actually have; existentialfocuses on the perception that one’s life has little meaning or purpose, regardless of the presence of friends or intimate relationships.
How it affects health
But in what ways loneliness affects health? «It is generally recognized that this experience can cause, in addition to heart problems, depression, disorders of sleep and appetitepredisposition to physical illnesses as a consequence of stress associated with lonelinessyou have a negative impact on the immune system, cardiovascular and endocrine”, explains Michela Matteoli, director of the Neuroscience program at the Humanitas university hospital in Milan where she is also professor of Pharmacology, author of the book The talent of the Brain (Sonzogno). «It turned out that loneliness is even capable of predict motor decline at an advanced age and today we know that the loss Of strength and muscle massequilibrium, dexterity And reduced gait speed has negative consequences on health and life expectancy. Observational studies suggest that social disengagement is primarily associated with cognitive impairment».
Keep stress under control
«Extensive research involving 12 thousand people for 10 years – continues the expert – revealed that loneliness increases the risk of dementia by 40%. It has been seen that elderly people who date few or no people have an increase in beta amyloid, the protein that accumulates in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. It is possible that it is caused by the stress resulting from the perception of loneliness. This causes an increase in the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, with increase in levels of cortisol. Long-term activation of the stress response system can damage multiple functions of our body. Having good social activity and keeping stress under control is one of the better forms of prevention».
Some doctors teach their students that one of the best indicators of how an elderly patient will fare after six months is to ask them how many friends or family members you have seen in the last week.
Evolutionary function, similar to hunger or thirst
Loneliness is believed to have an evolutionary functionin a way similar to hunger or thirst: a signal to change your lifestyle. «Many studies on mammals have shown that common areas are activated in the brain when we perceive a danger or a social pain, such as rejection or abandonment”, explains Matteoli. «It is as if the events that make us feel social pain are recognized by evolution as threats to our very survival. Let’s think about the fact that individuals often depend on others to obtain food, have shelter, and be cared for and cared for. Those who are included in a social fabric they have more likely to survive and reproduce. The “need to belong” creates in people a fundamental need for positive and lasting relationships with others. On the contrary, if there is a lack of social connection, adverse reactions are induced, the perception of danger to such an extent that it has been demonstrated how social exclusion influences subsequent pain processingcausing greater sensitivity to the pain itself”
The role of nutrition
In the search for the antidote to loneliness he has a role Also what you eat. «Several studies have highlighted how the loneliness be a specific risk factor to favor a poor quality dietwith low consumption of fruit and vegetables, greater intake of ultra-processed comfort foodsbody dissatisfaction and, consequently, greater risk of eating disorders», explains Stefano Erzegovesi, nutritionist and psychiatrist, expert in preventive nutrition and eating disorders.
«In fact, there was loneliness one of the variables which led to a surge in new cases of these disorders during the Covid pandemic.”
What diet to fight loneliness?
«There is no such thing as an anti-loneliness diet, strictly speaking, but the true Mediterranean diet, the poor one, improves mood, emotional regulation and stress resistance and, consequently, helps to better deal with social relationships”, adds Erzegovesi. «It consists of a high consumption of vegetables and fruit, whole grains, legumes and nuts, low consumption of animal products and very limited intake of ultra-processed products. One of the secrets of the lifestyle of centenarians and the conviviality: we eat together and almost always with an intergenerational exchange, for example grandparents and grandchildren, parents and children while neighbors reinforce the close social network. All this improves mood and slows cognitive decline. Cooking simple but tasty dishes activate the feeling of taking care of yourself, to have a purpose – continues Erzegovesi –. We could import the trend that is spreading in the USA: it’s called veg potluck lunch and dinners, plant-based meals shared in small communities. They are events where you meet at home or in common public spaces and everyone brings a dish they have prepared: a mixed vegetable or cereal salad, a soup, a side dish of vegetables. Nourishment is double: healthy food for the body and mind and interpersonal relationships”, says the nutritionist.
Convivial activities
Still on the subject of conviviality, one solution is also the «At Home» program, in which the students reside in the homes of the elderly. Three studies have been designed to evaluate it, we read above Sage Journals.
The most common activities shared by students and seniors were watching TV, eating dinner, having conversations, and walking. The contribution of the program for the elderly was reflected in alleviating their loneliness. The one for students in strengthening intergenerational relationships. Finally, there they are intergenerational nursing homes which combine retirement residence with nursery school.
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