The paradox of our era is that we are hyperconnected through digital media yet increasingly drifting apart from each other and suffer from loneliness because we lack authentic connection. This absence of real connection is epidemic, and medicine is increasingly recognising it as having dire physical, mental and emotional consequences, especially among older adults.
People with fewer social connections have disrupted sleep patterns, altered immune systems, more inflammation, and higher levels of stress hormones. In a 2016 study, isolation was found to increase the risk of heart disease by 29 per cent and stroke by 32 per cent.
Another analysis that pooled data from 70 studies and 3.4 million people found that individuals who were mostly on their own had a 30 per cent higher risk of dying in the next seven years, and that this effect was largest in middle age (younger than 65).
Loneliness accelerates cognitive decline in older adults. The data speaks to me. It tells me to pay attention to nurturing my relationships as much as I nurture my health through diet and exercise.
Picture this
Neuroimaging studies have been particularly revealing in this new area of brain science. A couple of investigations have been carried out by AARP Foundation Experience Corps, a program that links older adults with kids who are not reading at grade level yet. The program aims to be mutually beneficial; it helps older adults engage in the community as tutors, while children learn the skills they need to do well in school.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2021 من The Australian Women's Weekly.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2021 من The Australian Women's Weekly.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
