Audio long read: Why loneliness is bad for your health

This episode explores the severe health impacts of chronic loneliness and its prevalence across different demographics.

1. Chronic loneliness can severely impact health, akin to obesity and smoking.
2. About a quarter of the global adult population suffers from significant loneliness.
3. Loneliness not only affects mental health but also has physiological impacts like immune dysfunction and high blood pressure.
4. The brain's structure and function can alter due to prolonged loneliness, affecting social perception and interactions.
5. Initiatives and research are increasingly focusing on mitigating loneliness due to its extensive impacts.

1: Introduction to Loneliness

Benjamin Thompson introduces the topic and its relevance, discussing the widespread impact of loneliness on health. Benjamin Thompson: "Chronic loneliness can be as detrimental as obesity, physical inactivity, and smoking."

2: The Science Behind Loneliness

Explains the neural mechanisms and physiological effects loneliness has on individuals. Benjamin Thompson: "Early results suggest that loneliness might alter many aspects of the brain, from its volume to the connections between neurons."

3: Demographics and Loneliness

Discusses which demographic groups are most affected by loneliness and why. Benjamin Thompson: "Black and Hispanic adults, as well as people who earn less than $50,000 per year, have higher rates of loneliness."

4: Psychological and Social Effects

Covers the broader social and psychological consequences of feeling lonely. Benjamin Thompson: "Loneliness is a pressing health threat."

5: Research and Remedies

Focuses on current research and potential remedies for loneliness. Benjamin Thompson: "Increasing access to social activities can help mitigate feelings of loneliness."

1. Engage regularly in social activities to counter feelings of loneliness.
2. Support initiatives that focus on community building and social integration.
3. Recognize and address your own feelings of loneliness early.
4. Encourage open conversations about loneliness and its impact.
5. Utilize technology to stay connected with friends and family.

Many people around the world feel lonely. Chronic loneliness is known to have far-reaching health effects and has been linked to multiple conditions and even early death. But the mechanisms through which feeling alone can lead to poor health is a puzzle. Now, researchers are looking at neurons in the hopes that they may help explain why health issues arise when social needs go unmet.

People

Benjamin Thompson, Teresa Chucklowes, Vivek Murphy, Nathan Spreng, Andrew Summerlad, Livia Tomova, Ashwin Kotewal, Leticia Mulamboy Chilebo, Anastasia Benedik

Content Warnings:

None

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Benjamin Thompson

This is an audio long read from nature in this episode, why loneliness is bad for your Health, written by Sima May Sadiq and read by me, Benjamin Thompson. And read by me, Benjamin Thompson.

In 2010, Teresa Chucklowes was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, the first in a series of ailments that she has had. To deal with since. She'd always been an independent person, living. Alone and supporting herself as a family law facilitator in the Washington, DC court system. But during chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer.

Benjamin Thompson

Her independence at times turned into loneliness, which exacerbated her physical condition. I dropped 15 pounds in less than. A week because I wasn't eating, she says. I was so miserable I just would not get up. Fortunately, a work acquaintance convinced her to.

Ask her friends to help out, and her mood began to lift. Its a great feeling to know that. Other people are willing to show up, she says. Many people cant break out of a. Bout of loneliness so easily, and when.

Acute loneliness becomes chronic, the health effects. Can be far reaching. Chronic loneliness can be as detrimental as. Obesity, physical inactivity, and smoking, according to a report by Vivek Murphy, the US surgeon general. Depression, dementia, cardiovascular disease, and even early.

Benjamin Thompson

Death have all been linked to the condition. Worldwide, around one quarter of adults feel very or fairly lonely, according to a 2023 poll conducted by the social media. Firm Meta, the polling company Gallup, and. A group of academic advisers. That same year, the World Health Organization.

Launched a campaign to address loneliness, which. It called a pressing health threat. But why does feeling alone lead to poor health? Over the past few years, scientists have begun to reveal the neural mechanisms that. Cause the human body to unravel when social needs go unmet.

The field seems to be expanding quite. Significantly, says cognitive neuroscientist Nathan Spreng at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. And although the picture is far from complete, early results suggest that loneliness might. Alter many aspects of the brain, from its volume to the connections between neurons. Loneliness is a slippery concept.

Benjamin Thompson

It's not the same as social isolation. Which occurs when someone has few meaningful. Social relationships, although they're two sides of the same coin, says old age psychiatrist Andrew Summerlad at University College London. Rather, loneliness is a persons subjective experience. Of being unsatisfied with their social relationships.

The list of health conditions linked to. Loneliness is long and sobering. Some of these make intuitive sense. People who feel lonely are often depressed. For example, sometimes to the point of being at risk of suicide.

Benjamin Thompson

Other links are more surprising. Lonely people are at greater risk of. High blood pressure and immune system dysfunction compared with those who do not feel lonely, for example. Theres also a startling connection between loneliness. And dementia, with one study reporting that.

People who feel lonely are 1.64 times. More likely to develop this type of neurodegeneration than are those who do not. A number of physiological effects, including the ability to sleep, increased stress hormone levels, and increased susceptibility to infections, could link. Loneliness with health problems. But the way in which these factors.

Benjamin Thompson

Interact with one another makes it difficult to disentangle the effects of loneliness from the causes, cautions cognitive neuroscientist Livia Tomova at Cardiff University, UK. Do people's brains start functioning differently when. They become lonely, or do some people. Have differences in their brains that makes. Them more prone to loneliness?

We don't really know which one is true, she says. Whatever the cause, loneliness seems to have the biggest effect on people who are in disadvantaged groups in the United States. Black and hispanic adults, as well as people who earn less than $50,000 per year, have higher rates of loneliness than. Do other demographic groups by at least ten percentage points, according to a 2021 survey by the Cigna Group, a us healthcare and insurance company. Thats not surprising, because loneliness, by definition, is an emotional distress that wants us to adapt our social situations, says geriatrician and palliative care physician Ashwin Cotewall at the University of California, San Francisco.

Without financial resources, adapting is harder. The COVID-19 pandemic might have exacerbated loneliness by forcing people to isolate for months or years. Although that data is still emerging, Kotewal says older adults have long been thought of as the demographic most heavily affected. By loneliness, and indeed it is a major problem faced by many of the. Older people that Kotewal works with.

But the Cigna group's data suggests that. Loneliness is actually highest in young adults. 79% of those between the ages of. 18 and 24 reported feeling lonely, compared with 41% of people aged 66 and older. A growing amount of research is exploring.

Benjamin Thompson

What happens in the brain when people feel lonely. Lonely people tend to view the world. Differently from those who arent, says cognitive neuroscientist Leticia Mulamboy Chilebo at Princeton University in New Jersey. In a 2023 study, researchers asked participants. To watch videos of people in a variety of situations, for example, playing sports or on a date while inside a magnetic resonance imaging scanner.

People who did not report being lonely. All had similar neural responses to each. Other, whereas the responses in people who. Felt lonely were all different from the other group and from each other. The authors hypothesized that lonely people pay.

Benjamin Thompson

Attention to different aspects of situations from non lonely people, which causes those who. Feel lonely to perceive themselves as being. Different from their peers. This would mean that loneliness can feed. Back on itself, becoming worse over time.

It's almost like a self fulfilling prophecy, Malambwe Chilebo says. If you think that you're lonely, you're perceiving or interpreting your social world more. Negatively, and that makes you move further and further away. Some studies have shown that this effect. Can spread through social networks, giving loneliness a contagious quality.

Historically, staying close to others was probably a good survival strategy for humans. Thats why scientists think that temporary loneliness evolved to motivate people to seek company. Just as hunger and thirst evolved to. Motivate people to seek food and water. In fact, the similarities between hunger and loneliness go right down to the physiological level.

In a 2020 study, researchers deprived people. Of either food or social connections for 10 hours. They then used brain imaging to identify. Areas that were activated by images of either food, such as a heaping plate of pasta, or social interactions such as friends laughing together. Some of the activated regions were unique to images either of food or of people socializing.

Benjamin Thompson

But a region in the midbrain known. As the substantia nigra lit up when. Hungry people saw pictures of food, and when people who felt lonely saw pictures of social interactions. That's a key region for motivation. It's known to be active whenever we.

Want something, says Tomova, who is an author on the study. More links are emerging between loneliness and how the brain processes feelings of reward. In mice, loneliness sensitizes certain midbrain neurons. To a neurotransmitter called dopamine, which can. Also cause people to cave into cravings.

Such as for food and drugs. Likewise, isolation might make humans more sensitive. To rewards and more eager to seek them out. In 2023, Tomova and her colleagues published a preprint for a study in which they isolated adolescents from social contact for. Up to 4 hours.

After isolation, participants were offered the chance. To earn a monetary reward. The isolated participants agreed more quickly than. Did those who were not isolated, suggesting that isolation had made them more responsive to rewarding actions. Although research on dopamine and loneliness is still emerging, scientists have also long recognized the connection between loneliness and another type.

Benjamin Thompson

Of chemical stress hormones called glucocorticoids. Humans need some level of glucocorticoids to. Function to wake up, says neurophysiologist John Ioannis Sotyropoulos at the National center for Scientific Research Democritus in Athens. But persistent loneliness leads to chronically high levels. These chemicals could provide a link between loneliness and dementia.

In a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, for example, glucocorticoids increase the levels of two proteins that are involved in the. Main hallmark of the condition, the protein plaques that tangle around neurons and interfere with memory and cognition. Stress is an extra assault on brains that are already wearing out as people get older, Malambue Chilebo says. But she wants to see more research before committing to an opinion on exactly. What part stress related chemicals play in neurodegeneration.

Benjamin Thompson

It could accelerate the rate of aging. But there hasn't been work that explicitly looks at that, she says. Tomiver says that although high levels of. Stress hormones probably contribute to dementia, it's. Also likely that people who feel lonely.

Miss out on the mental exercise that social interactions provide. And just as a muscle needs exercise to stay fit, so does the brain. In fact, loneliness has been associated with. A smaller volume of grey matter in the brain. This is all hypothesis, really, at this stage, Summer Lad says.

But the idea is that socializing maintains. Neural connections that might otherwise be lost. Researchers looking for the neural signature of. Loneliness have also found differences that could. Help to explain some of the correlations between loneliness and dementia.

Previous research has suggested that there are changes in the connectivity between brain areas. In people who feel lonely. A 2020 study examined an area of. The brain called the default network in older people who reported being lonely. This area is so called because it's active by default, when a person isn't.

Benjamin Thompson

Engaged in a particular task and turns their attention inward. Previous work had suggested that young people. Who feel lonely have high neural crosstalk between the default network and other networks associated with vision, attention, and executive control. Possibly because they're on high alert for. Social cues, says Spreng, one of the authors of the 2020 study of older people.

But his team found the opposite in. Brain scans from the UK biobank cohorts of people aged 40 to 69. Loneliness weakened connections between the default network and the visual system and instead strengthened connections within the default network. That could be because older people remedy. Loneliness by retreating into memories of past social experiences, Spreng says.

In doing so, they strengthen the default network. The default network is one of many. Networks in the brain that accrues damage during Alzheimer's disease. Spreng and his colleagues are investigating whether. Strong default networks can indeed be linked to neurodegeneration, and, if so, why.

He wonders whether robust neural connections might. Allow pathologies to spread more readily in the network. The idea is far from proven, but it's a plausible explanation and an interesting hypothesis, says cognitive neuroscientist Anastasia Benedik at the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, Germany. The study lays the foundation for us to be able to test some hypotheses a little bit more empirically, says Malambwe Chilebo, who was also involved in the work linking the default network with loneliness. Some remedies for loneliness will come as no surprise.

Increasing access to social activities, for example, by housing people in communities with common. Areas, can help, Somaladd says. Some researchers are also finding ways to tap into the neural mechanisms underlying loneliness directly through exercise. For instance, walking four to 5 km over the course of an hour completely. Reversed feelings of low mood associated with loneliness in some people, Benedick and her colleagues found.

What's more, people with high connectivity in. Their default networks, the same area spring. Studied, which is also known to be. Affected by depression, were among those who benefited from exercise the most. One possible explanation for this observation is that people with depression are stuck in.

Benjamin Thompson

Rumination, a behavior that draws heavily on the default network, Benedict says. Exercise could force them to use other. Parts of their brain by interrupting neural processes that are associated with self reflection. And shifting activity to areas associated with. Physical activities, freeing them from a cycle of negative thoughts.

Exercising is also a great excuse to socialize these days. Chaklos is retired, but she now leads. The Boston branch of a us program. Called walk with a dock in which physicians invite community members to walk with them. At the group's February walk, about 14.

Benjamin Thompson

People chatted and strolled inside the prudential center mall in Boston, Massachusetts, where they could avoid New England's winter weather. The activity just uplifts a person's mood, Chaklo says. Even if you're still going back home. To be by yourself, you don't feel totally alone anymore. To read more of nature's long form journalism, head over to nature.com news.

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Deep dive into the world of science with nature. Plus, from the vastness of the distant. Star systems to the intricacies of infectious. Diseases due to climate change, weve got you covered. Enjoy access to over 55 cutting edge.

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