By Isobel Williams via SWNS
Loneliness can take a severe toll on the physical health of older people, warns a new study.
New research shows that loneliness can lead to an increase in physical frailty, which in turn increases the risk of adverse health outcomes such as depression, falls and cognitive decline.
The study comes after claims from the US Surgeon General last year that loneliness is just as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes per day.
The researchers note that the increased isolation seen during the pandemic is what inspired them to investigate this link further.
Assistant professor Emiel Hoogendijk from Amsterdam UMC said: “Recently, and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is more attention for the potential harmful effects of loneliness and social isolation on the health of older people.
“We wanted to see how far these effects went and saw that all kinds of reduced social functioning, such as loneliness, social isolation and lack of social support, were associated with physical decline in older adults.”
The team from Amsterdam UMC and the University of Glasgow analyzed data from more than 130 studies to get their results, which are published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity.
They found that the connection between loneliness and frailty can go both ways, with frailty leading to a decrease in social contact and a decrease in social contact leading to frailty.
Dr. Hoogendijk said: “In some cases, physical vulnerability can also cause people to lose social contacts or become lonelier, for example because they become less mobile.
“We know that people with feelings of loneliness or with a lack of social contacts have a higher risk of, amongst others, depression and various chronic diseases. For example, a lack of social contact can have a direct effect on the immune system, but it can also have an indirect effect on health, for example through an unhealthier lifestyle.
“We want to do more research into this in the coming period.”
The team hope that their findings will encourage older adults to take part in more activities which will keep them from feeling isolated.
Dr. Peter Hanlon from the University of Glasgow added: “Frailty refers to a lot of different forms of physical deterioration, such as weight loss, reduced walking speed and decrease in muscle strength. These can all then have an effect on, for example, how likely you are to fall.
“Older people who are physically vulnerable often also have to deal with a decline in both social and mental functioning. As we are caring for older adults, we need to pay attention to all of these aspects.
“Loneliness, for example, is not an easy problem to solve. However, there is more and more knowledge available about possible effective interventions, including activities that support older people to increase their social connections.”
