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Harvard scientists find eight surprising social factors that increase the risk of early death, including living in a dirty neighborhood, not seeing your children or being disrespected
Friends and family not spending enough time with you is not only annoying, but it could also shorten your lifespan.
A joint research team from Harvard University, Mass General Hospital and the University of California, San Francisco found eight key factors that can predict how long a person has left to live.
These included loneliness and not seeing the children on one side, as well as living in a dirty neighborhood or feeling treated with less respect by others.
The researchers note that while many look only at medical factors, social health may also play a key role in longevity.
They warned that loneliness was reducing life expectancy because it was linked to higher levels of stress, which increases the risk of many chronic diseases. Others were related to problems accessing good medical care and a balanced diet.
Shown above are the eight factors that scientists say could predict a shorter life. These were being alone (1), living in an area with dirty streets (2), having little control over their finances (3), meeting children less than once a year (4), not working for pay (5), avoiding children (6), not volunteering (7) and being treated with less courtesy or respect (8)
Dr Sachin Shah, a medical scientist and Harvard faculty member who led the research, said: “We often overemphasize the importance of medical conditions when we think about longevity.”
‘[But] this research shows that our social lives are just as important as medical conditions.’
He added: ‘From our data, we developed a 10-question survey that uses age, gender and social characteristics to predict longevity. This survey also predicts other important outcomes for older adults, such as living independently.’
Among the eight facts were living in a dirty area, meeting children less than once a year, and not staying involved in the community through activities such as volunteering (list below).
In the study, published this week in the journal PNASThe researchers analyzed the results of the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study, which includes 20,000 people age 50 and older.
The team used the results to build a 10-question survey that can predict longevity, called the social frailty index.
This asks people about their age and gender and whether they have children, before moving on to asking if they feel isolated and how often they interact with others.
Several studies have found that loneliness poses a risk similar to factors such as smoking, obesity, and lack of exercise in shortening someone’s life.
Researchers say this is because people who feel lonely have higher levels of stress, or higher levels of cortisol, the body’s stress hormone.
Scientists warn that this increases the risk of a myriad of health problems, including heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and high blood pressure.
Other studies have also shown that not having a job increases a person’s risk of having a shorter life.
Reasons for this include higher stress levels, but also less ability to pay for good health care or a balanced diet.
It was not clear why other factors, such as having dirty streets, might lead to an earlier death.
But this may be because they are an indicator of socioeconomic level and, consequently, of access to health care or a more balanced diet.