Loneliness & Cancer In Men
Loneliness among middle-aged men could pose a risk of cancer. This finding comes from a study involving 2,570 middle-aged men, whose health has been monitored since enrolling in the study in the 1980s. The researchers have reported that about 25 percent of the men – 649 of them – developed cancer, and 283 of them have died. The team found that loneliness increased the risk of developing cancer by about 10 percent, and was seen regardless of the men’s age, socio-economic status, lifestyle, sleep quality, symptoms of depression, body mass index and heart disease. The researchers also found that cancer deaths were higher among men who were unmarried, widowed or divorced. Project researcher Siiri-Liisi Kraav noted that awareness of the health effects of loneliness is constantly increasing and “therefore, it is important to examine in more detail the mechanisms by which loneliness causes adverse health effects, (which) would enable us to better alleviate loneliness and the harm caused by it, as well as to find optimal ways to target preventive measures.”
My take? While loneliness is often a very personalized experience, you can help determine your own degree of loneliness by using the UCLA Loneliness Scale is available online. I wrote in my book 8 Weeks To Optimum Health about the risks to health of what I call disconnectedness, the lack of meaningful connections in life, to a mate, lover, friends, work, hobby or pet. Human beings are highly social, communal animals, meant to live in families, tribes, and communities, and when we lack those connections, we suffer. I believe that connectedness is necessary to wellbeing. You can eat as much salmon and broccoli as you like, take antioxidants on a regular basis, breathe deeply and exercise daily, but if you are disconnected, you will find it difficult to achieve optimum health.
Source:
Siiri-Liisi Kraav et al, “Loneliness and social isolation increase cancer incidence in a cohort of Finnish middle-aged men. A longitudinal study.” Psychiatry Research, 2021; 299: 113868 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113868
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