Extreme loneliness on a long-term basis can be worse than obesity in terms of increasing the potentially lethal health risks that lead to premature death among older people, reports [s]The Independent[/s]. Chronic loneliness has been shown to increase the chances of an early grave by 14 per cent, which is as bad as being overweight and almost as bad as poverty in undermining a person’s long-term wellbeing, the study has found.
Researchers led by [b]Professor John Cacioppo at University of Chicago[/b] observed more than 2,000 people over 50 years of age and found that those who were the loneliest were twice as likely to die within six years compared to those who felt the least lonely. When compared with an average person, those who were lonely were 14 percent more likely to die, nearly twice as likely as obesity, while poverty increased the risk to 19 percent.
[link url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/extreme-loneliness-worse-for-health-than-obesity-9132031.html]Full The Independent report[/link]