- ‘Having a good laugh’ is just as important to stay healthy into old age
- Socializing improves brain health and may protect against heart disease and cancer
Healthy eating and exercise are among the most common tips from health chiefs for people who want to age healthily.
But social involvement, friendship and ‘a good laugh’ are just as important to stay healthy into old age, says professor Rose Anne Kenny.
The leading geriatrician at Trinity College Dublin said interacting with others improves brain health and may even protect against heart disease and cancer.
Professor Kenny told the ZOE podcast: ‘Social participation, friendship, social relationships[are]just as important as all the other measures we’ve talked about so much, like exercise and diet and physical activity, and even smoking.’
Humans evolved to need others, “just as we evolved to need food and we evolved to need water,” she said.
Healthy eating and exercise are among the most common tips from health chiefs for people who want to age healthily. But social engagement, friendship and ‘a good laugh’ are just as important for staying healthy into old age, says Professor Rose Anne Kenny
“If we deny ourselves that exposure, the effect is basically as bad as, as toxic as anything you can get biologically,” Professor Kenny said.
She said spending time with friends and family can ease cognitive decline and dementia.
A slew of studies have shown that loneliness is one of the main risk factors for developing memory-robbing disorders.
They show that isolation is linked to smaller brain size and problems with vital skills, such as the ability to plan, focus attention and remember instructions.
Those who are ‘painfully socially isolated’ are at greater risk of developing poor brain health, says Professor Kenny.
In addition to this risk, loneliness is associated with chronic inflammation.
She added: “Chronic inflammation is probably the underlying biological dysfunction or abnormality that underlies all the major diseases we know of – cancer, heart disease, stroke, and so on.
“So loneliness causes chronic inflammation, which is why these diseases are strongly associated with loneliness, just like dementia.”
Professor Kenny said it is crucial to ‘put as much effort into building friendships as you do choosing your food or selecting a physical activity you enjoy.
However, she noted that socializing is not about the number of relationships one has, but the quality of them.
“If a friendship, a family member, or an engagement to a relative is tense or unpleasant, it’s not good for us. And we see that this triggers a process of stress,’ Professor Kenny added.
In addition to meeting friends, she recommended volunteering, joining a club, or going to fitness classes to take advantage of group interaction.