There’s no easy way to say this.
Loneliness is serious. In fact, it’s so serious that it can lead to an early death.
Extensive research is uncovering more and more health risks.
It's already well known that smoking, obesity and environmental factors can cause an early demise. Loneliness, however, is a relative newcomer to the field of potentially fatal conditions.
Often high blood pressure or diabetes are referred to as “silent killers." Loneliness and social isolation would also fit into that category.
In fact, high blood pressure was found by a University of Chicago study to be a major byproduct of loneliness and social isolation.
During that study, researchers took a sample of people who were described as lonely against a sample of individuals who had solid social and familial connections. The researchers determined that the group identifying as lonely saw their blood pressure rise by 14.4 mm more than the other group. This happened over a period of four years.
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