Senior Home Care and elder care in Long Beach, Seal Beach, and Orange County – Better Living Home Care - 714-827-7855.
University of Chicago researchers have concluded that loneliness is a major risk factor in increasing blood pressure in older people, and because of this could increase the risk of death by stroke and heart disease.
In a paper titled, “Loneliness is a Unique Predictor of Age-Related Differences in Systolic Blood Pressure,” published in the March issue of the journal Psychology and Aging, researchers Louise Hawkley and John Cacioppo found lonely people between the ages of 50 and 68 had blood pressure readings that were as much as 30 points higher than non-lonely people, even when other contributing factors were taken into consideration.
“Loneliness is a complex physiological phenomenon that incorporates feelings of dysphoria (opposite of euphoria) and stress, dissatisfaction with social support and hostility toward others,” according to the paper. It already has been associated with higher incidences of other health issues, including alcoholism, depression and insomnia, and even impaired immune functions.
The findings of the researchers are consistent with Society of Certified Senior Advisors’ approach to training professionals to think more broadly of seniors, not just in terms of health, financial or social factors, but in terms of all of them combined so that Certified Senior Advisors can provide the most benefit to their senior clients.
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