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 Loneliness has long been linked to a wide variety of physical and
mental health problems, particularly among chronically ill and
elderly people. With diabetes in particular, close friends and
family can influence how patients eat, how much they exercise, and
how well they keep the disease in check.
To see how these relationships may influence the odds of getting
diabetes in the first place, researchers examined data on 2,861
adults who ranged in age from 40 to 75 and were 60 years old on
average.
More than half of these people had normal blood sugar and no
diagnosis of diabetes. But 430 people, or 15 percent, had slightly
elevated blood sugar classified as “pre-diabetes,” while about 4
percent were newly diagnosed with diabetes when they joined the
study and 24 percent already had the disease.
On average, people without diabetes had 11 friends and family
members in their social network, compared with fewer than 8 friends
for people with newly or previously diagnosed diabetes, researchers
report in BMC Public Health.
“Currently, high-risk groups receive advice to become more
physically active and eat healthier without any inquiries about
their social situation,” said lead study author Stephanie Brinkhues,
a researcher at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
“We think that this could be improved . . . as socially isolated
people may even have a higher risk for disease,” Brinkhues said by
email.
Every one-person reduction in the size of people’s social networks
was associated with 12 percent higher odds of newly diagnosed
diabetes in women and 10 percent higher odds for men, the study
found. This was also tied to 8 percent greater likelihood of a
previous diabetes diagnosis in women, and 5 percent greater odds for
men.
At the same time, each 10 percent drop in the number of social
network members living within walking distance was associated with
21 percent higher odds of a new diabetes diagnosis for women.
Every 10 percent increase in the proportion of the social network
made of household members, meanwhile, was associated with 25 percent
higher odds of a new diabetes diagnosis in women and 29 percent
higher odds for men.
Living alone didn’t appear to influence the odds of diabetes for
women. But for men, living alone was associated with 84 percent
higher odds of a new diabetes diagnosis and 94 percent higher odds
of a previous diagnosis.
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The study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove whether
or how the number of people in social networks or the types of
interactions within networks might influence the risk of diabetes.
Even so, the study adds to the evidence linking social isolation to
diabetes and other chronic illnesses that can impact both quality of
life and longevity, said Dr. Carla Perissinotto, a geriatrics
researcher at the University of California, San Francisco.
“Social isolation doesn’t cause diabetes, but there is a
relationship,” Perissinotto, who wasn’t involved in the study, said
by email.
One theory is that too much time alone might lead to increased
stress and inflammatory reactions in the body, Perissinotto added.
Stress hormones are thought to influence how the body processes
glucose, or sugars, and may contribute to the development of
diabetes.
The study results offer fresh evidence of the importance of
maintaining an active social life in middle age and beyond, said
Dawn C. Carr, a researcher at Florida State University in
Tallahassee who wasn’t involved in the study.
People who have many close relationships with friends and family
members may be more motivated to be socially engaged, physically
active and follow a healthy lifestyle, Carr said by email.
By contrast, people who live alone may have less motivation to cook
healthy meals, get out and exercise or do other things that can keep
health problems at bay.
“We need to nurture important relationships and be sure that we take
our social health as seriously as our physical and psychological
health,” Carr advised. “This is something we need to cultivate
throughout our lives before we reach old age.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2EucMzy BMC Public Health, online December 19,
2017.
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