{"id":1239,"date":"2016-02-19T15:12:50","date_gmt":"2016-02-19T15:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/assistinghands.com\/hinsdale\/?p=1081"},"modified":"2018-07-20T13:54:15","modified_gmt":"2018-07-20T13:54:15","slug":"loneliness-is-more-than-just-a-psychological-condition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/assistinghands.com\/20\/illinois\/hinsdale\/blog\/loneliness-is-more-than-just-a-psychological-condition\/","title":{"rendered":"Loneliness Is More than Just a Psychological Condition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>According to the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.census.gov\/content\/dam\/Census\/library\/publications\/2014\/demo\/p23-212.pdf\">U.S. Census Bureau<\/a>\u00a011 million, or 28% of people aged 65 and older, lived alone in 2010. As people get older, their likelihood of living alone only increases. Additionally, more and older adults do not have children, reports the AARP, and that means\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aarp.org\/content\/dam\/aarp\/research\/public_policy_institute\/ltc\/2013\/baby-boom-and-the-growing-care-gap-insight-AARP-ppi-ltc.pdf\">fewer family members to provide company and care<\/a>\u00a0as those adults become seniors.<\/p>\n<p>According to a 2012 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, both social isolation and loneliness are associated with a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/110\/15\/5797.full\">higher risk of mortality<\/a>\u00a0in adults aged 52 and older.<\/p>\n<p>One possible explanation: \u201cPeople who live alone or lack social contacts may be at increased risk of death if acute symptoms develop, because there is less of a network of confidantes to prompt medical attention.\u201d Efforts to reduce isolation are the key to addressing the issue of mortality, said the study\u2019s authors.<\/p>\n<p>New research indicates that loneliness puts seniors a greater risk for heart attacks, metastatic cancer, Alzheimer\u2019s disease, and other ills.<\/p>\n<p>Loneliness is often defined as the distress people feel when reality fails to meet their ideal of social relationships.<\/p>\n<p>The Wall Street Journal highlighted a recent UCLA School of Medicine study, which was conducted in collaboration with the University of California at Davis and the University of Chicago. The study found that \u201csocial isolation turned up the activity of genes responsible for inflammation and turned down the activity of genes that produce antibodies to fight infection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A type of white blood cell that is produced in bone marrow plays a special immunological role and is one of the body\u2019s first lines of defense against infection.\u00a0 But when these blood cells become compromised, it can cause inflammation and reduce antibody protection.\u00a0 And this is more likely to occur among lonely people.<\/p>\n<p>An interesting part of the study delved into the fact that as man evolved, loneliness became an important factor, and impacted the ability for ancient man to survive. Survival depended on cooperation and communications. So social isolation put ancient man at greater risk.\u00a0 It also shaped the brain to desire and need food.<\/p>\n<p>The study found that lonely people are more likely to act negatively toward others, which makes it that much harder for them to forge relationships.<\/p>\n<p>The study\u2019s sponsors point out that loneliness is not synonymous with being alone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany people live solitary lives but are not lonely. And being surrounded by others is no guarantee against loneliness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The senior caretaker, whether a family member or an outside caretaking expert, can play a valuable role by listening to a senior, allowing them to share their thoughts and disclose hidden issues.\u00a0 Many times this conversation will unlock truths that can help a senior better cope with their lives.<\/p>\n<p>A caretaker\u2019s most valuable role, often, is encouraging family members to visit their senior parents or relatives more frequently. Often, seniors will start to open up and tell stories that create stronger bonds with relatives, and especially with younger family members whose perceptions may have been shaped by past visits when the senior was not communicating or was in a bad mood due their isolation.<\/p>\n<p>The message is clear that isolation and loneliness can lead to bigger health issues and require some proactive steps to reduce the impact of loneliness on general health and well-being.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to the\u00a0U.S. Census Bureau\u00a011 million, or 28% of people aged 65 and older, lived alone in 2010. As people get older, their likelihood of living alone only increases. Additionally, more and older adults do not have children, reports the AARP, and that means\u00a0fewer family members to provide company and care\u00a0as those adults become seniors. According to a 2012 study&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,10],"tags":[49,25,31,11,46,69,16],"class_list":["post-1239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-care-planning","category-health","tag-aging","tag-elderly-care","tag-exercise","tag-home-care","tag-home-bound","tag-loneliness","tag-senior-care"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Loneliness More than Just a Psychological Condition - Home Care<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to the U.S. Census Bureau 11 million, or 28% of people aged 65 and older, lived alone in 2010.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/assistinghands.com\/20\/illinois\/hinsdale\/blog\/loneliness-is-more-than-just-a-psychological-condition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Loneliness More than Just a Psychological Condition - Home Care\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to the U.S. Census Bureau 11 million, or 28% of people aged 65 and older, lived alone in 2010.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/assistinghands.com\/20\/illinois\/hinsdale\/blog\/loneliness-is-more-than-just-a-psychological-condition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Assisting Hands Home Care - Downers Grove, Hinsdale &amp; 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