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| Research has proved that feeling sad and
lonely does harm to one's health.(file
photo) |
BEIJING, April 25
(Xinhuanet) -- People over 50 have greater risk of high blood pressure if
they feel lonely most of the time, U.S. researchers say in the latest study.
Physicians have long considered feelings of
loneliness as a potential risk factor for hypertension, next only
to obesity and sedentary lifestyles. The study shows that loneliness
can add 30 points to blood pressure readings for adults over the age of
50.
"The magnitude of this association is quite
stunning," said University of Chicago scientist Louise Hawkley, the study's lead
author.
Her team published its findings in the latest issue
of Psychology and Aging.
Hawkley's team interviewed 229 people aged 50 to 68
years of age. They used standard questionnaires to rate each participant's
perceived level of feeling lonely as well as other psychosocial and
cardiovascular risk factors.
Slightly over half of the study participants were
considered at least moderately lonely and had higher blood pressure than those
who felt less lonely.
The strongest link was in the 15 percent of
participants who were highly lonely. Their blood pressure reading
were 10 to 30 points higher than in non-lonely people, even after other
negative emotive states, like sadness, stress or hostility, were taken into
account. The effect of loneliness on hypertension appeared to get stronger
with age.
The research underscores the health advantages
of friends and family. But lonely people often found it hard to strengthen
existing relationships or to make new ones.
“Remember, people can feel lonely even if they are
with a lot of people," she said. “You can think of Marilyn Monroe or Princess
Diana - there was certainly nothing lacking in their social lives, yet they
claimed to have felt intensely lonely.”
Chronically lonely people also tend to have
conflicted emotions when it comes to reaching out to others, Hawkley said. “They
may want to go out and make friends, and yet they have a nagging lack of trust
with whomever they want to interact with, or they may feel hostile. So they end
up behaving in ways that force the potential partner away,” she added.
Enditem
(Agencies)
