USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: IT IS CONFIRMED: Loneliness Kills { RE: My View on Kemi Vs Bianca Quarrel : "Chukwumad see your Ashawo step mother for Ngwo market o"

My People:

It is confirmed: loneliness kills, often via depression.  All Nigerians should take heed.......

Get out of the house; visit friends; go to marriage ceremonies and burials and naming ceremonies; do sports; join a church....

Get away from cursing each other on Naija cyber-waves, worrying about Bianca and Olunloyo and all that jazz.....

And there you have it.

Bolaji Aluko

Shaking his head

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertglatter/2016/04/24/the-two-dangerous-and-deadly-effects-of-loneliness/#78876c73bbfa

APR 24, 2016 @ 06:00 AM  

The Two Dangerous And Deadly Effects Of Loneliness

Robert Glatter, MD ,

 CONTRIBUTOR

I cover breaking news in medicine, med tech and public health

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Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Results of the analysis were striking: Loneliness and social isolation 

increased the risk of coronary complications—by 29%, and the risk of having a stroke by 32%. There were no gender differences noted among the study participants.

To address this finding from the study, healthcare systems and social service agencies have traditionally adopted policies to help persons who are lonely or socially isolated to become more engaged and connected. The results of this study, however, argue that if we accept loneliness as a true risk factor for heart attacks and strokes, then we should be proactive to identify those at risk much earlier, and prevent it from ever setting in.

 Recognizing underlying mental illness as a risk factor for social isolation and aggressively treating it through approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or through pharmacologic means is likely to be one of the most important ways that health care providers can help at-risk persons.

In addition, knowing that socially isolated and lonely persons are more often to be physically inactive and smoke, addressing these damaging behaviors at the outset may also lead to earlier intervention.

As for limitations of the meta-analysis, it included only observational studies, so one cannot establish a clear cause-and-effect relationship. The use of questionnaires may also introduce bias in the evaluation of the condition of loneliness itself, other than an evaluation by a healthcare provider.

In the end, preventing and addressing isolation and loneliness–in addition to stroke and heart attack prevention–may be equally as important in providing optimal care for patients.

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Loneliness can cause heart disease, stroke

April 25th, 2016

UNCH

Loneliness can cause heart disease, stroke

April 25, 2016

Jonathan Zovoe

People who are lonely and isolated may face a higher risk of heart disease and stroke, researchers report.

According to HealthDay Reporter,  WebMD, social isolation raised that risk by about 30 percent, exerting the same level of influence on heart health as risk factors such as anxiety and job stress, the British review found.

The AWAKE magazine in its article of April 15, 2015 says researchers who analyzed the results of 148 studies concluded that low social interaction is a predictor of early death and that as a risk factor, it is "twice as harmful as obesity" and "equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day."

A research fellow in the department of health sciences at the University of York, Nicole Valtorta,  while emphasising the need to pay more than the usual attention to loneliness said, "Addressing loneliness and social isolation could have an important role in the prevention of two of the leading causes of ill health and mortality worldwide."

"We take risk factors like obesity and physical inactivity for granted, whereas we do not yet with social isolation and loneliness, adding that the data from our study support us taking it seriously."

But this analysis could not prove that loneliness and social isolation caused heart problems or strokes, only that an association existed, she added.

However, Valtota said, "if we put the study findings into context, what we found is comparable in size to the effect of other psychosocial risk factors such as anxiety and job strain. Efforts to prevent heart disease and stroke could benefit from taking social isolation and loneliness into account."

The report was published online April 19 in the journal Heart.

The researchers analyzed data from 23 previously published studies that, in total, included over 180,000 adults, more than 4,600 of whom had heart attacks, angina or died and more than 3,000 who had suffered strokes.

The result from the pooled data showed that loneliness and social isolation were associated with a 29 percent increased risk of heart attack or angina attack and a 32 percent increased risk of stroke.

These findings suggest that loneliness and social isolation need to be taken seriously.

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