Full Transcript Podcast Introduction and Loneliness Epidemic 0:00 The sociologists tell us, yes, we are definitely social people and that we need about three to five close relationships in order to feel happy and satisfied. 0:11 And apparently that also determines how healthy we are. 0:16 Have you made it past menopause or are you going through it now? 0:19 I'm Dr. 0:20 Pat McShane and on the Women's Health Span Voices podcast, I'll guide you through the health challenges of the menopausal years and beyond. 0:29 Guiding the way to thriving in this powerful era of your womanhood. 0:33 Hello and welcome. 0:35 Today, in this episode, we're going to be talking about an epidemic that you may never have heard about, and that is the epidemic of loneliness in the 0:45 developed world and in the middle-income countries as well. 0:48 It's impacted about 40% of people over age 60, according to a number of different studies, And it has a wide range of medical implications with an increase 1:01 in all-cause mortality, which means the chance of dying for everybody, as well as specific instances of cardiovascular disease and stroke, 1:12 an increase in dementia, an increase in depression and anxiety, as well as probably other conditions that are lesser conditions. 1:22 This has been noted in a number of studies through the UK Biobank as one, the Mayo Clinic is another.
Defining Loneliness and Social Isolation 1:30 And there have been a number of scientists who've done meta-analyses, lumping a bunch of smaller studies together. 1:37 And all of these studies basically have come up with the same general conclusion. 1:42 that there is an epidemic of loneliness and that loneliness does have an impact on our health. 1:48 So let's start by some definitions. 1:51 When you think of loneliness, it's mostly a subjective experience. 1:56 There's a difference between my perception of what I would like and how my life is actually going, a disparity there. 2:07 And that's certainly an important feature of all of this. 2:11 The other is what we call social isolation, and that is people who spend very little time with others who aren't involved in a lot of activities with other 2:24 people and who oftentimes live alone. 2:27 are oftentimes single or divorced or widowed. 2:32 And these can be lumped together, these two definitions, loneliness and social isolation. 2:38 And a lot of studies have actually teased them apart, and they're each important. 2:43 They're obviously highly correlated, although some people who do not have social isolation do have a profound sense of personal loneliness. 2:54 So they're not necessarily going in parallel, but they often are, of course. 2:59 With any kind of information like this, we always wonder about correlation versus causation or reverse correlation.
Causes and Risk Factors 3:08 In other words, are people who have these medical conditions such as heart disease or dementia, is that the cause of their loneliness or their social isolation? 3:19 Or is it the other way around? 3:21 Or are they both related to a third factor that we haven't defined? 3:26 So whenever we look at this kind of research, we always have to ask ourselves those questions. 3:32 And of course, the researchers do the best job that they can teasing out these different things that might be related but not direct cause and effect. 3:41 On a personal level, what might cause someone to be socially isolated or to feel lonely? 3:48 Well, for many of us, it's separation from a partner or the death of a partner. 3:53 Fewer people are married now than have historically been married in the developed world. 3:59 Oftentimes our friends will have moved away. 4:02 Often our families will live far away from us. 4:05 This is again a current status of our social constructs here. 4:11 And we, as part of our growing older, may have conditions that make it more difficult for us to get out and about. 4:20 Difficulty with driving, transportation, nighttime driving, sometimes hearing or vision will keep people from being involved in the activities or the social 4:32 activities that they wish to be involved in, and they historically have been involved in. 4:37 Other factors that have been noted broadly in our culture are a reduction in religious attendance at religious services, 4:47 although people still perceive themselves as being spiritual. 4:51 But the piece about being in a group with another set of people with similar beliefs and goals is not as prevalent today. 5:02 We just are not joining the same numbers of organizations as we previously had been. 5:09 There's a great book by Robert Putnam called Bowling Alone, which I recommend. 5:15 And this was born out with a lot of the social trends in the last 30 years since he wrote this book.
Symptoms and Health Mechanisms 5:24 Social media has tended to be a substitute for some of the involvement that we used to have in other social activities, but it certainly has a different 5:36 texture to it than actually being with people. 5:40 The sociologists tell us, yes, we are definitely social people and that we need about three to five close relationships in order to feel happy and satisfied. 5:51 And apparently that also determines how healthy we are. 5:56 When looking at populations, some of these larger studies have identified some other risk factors for loneliness and social isolation. 6:05 Education is a protective factor, so the more educated you are, the less likely you are to be lonely or socially isolated. 6:13 People who are smokers tend to have more social isolation. 6:18 People with poorer health and physical limitations, as we just mentioned, will have difficulty interacting with other people. 6:26 And income is a positive impact. 6:29 The more income we have, the more likely we are to be involved in social activities and to report less loneliness. 6:39 Sometimes people have symptoms of loneliness and they can tell you about that. 6:44 Mostly it's emotional, lack of support or a feeling of loss. 6:48 Insomnia, sleep issues can be an issue. 6:51 Feeling detached even when you're around friends and family is not uncommon. 6:57 Increased anxiety and overthinking. 7:00 Does that one ring a bell for anybody? 7:02 Trouble focusing. 7:04 lack of motivation or pleasure in everyday activities. 7:08 Some of these seem to cross over with depression in my mind, but I'm not an expert in these symptoms. 7:15 Many people don't really have symptoms, and they just feel like this is the way their life is. 7:20 As I mentioned, a number of studies have proven the impact of loneliness and social isolation on medical conditions. 7:29 So while we may ask, well, what might be some of the mechanisms? 7:34 And there have been studies looking at the brain per se. 7:37 There have been studies looking at the brain per se, and some of the neurotransmitters are definitely impacted.
Ways to Reduce Loneliness 7:45 And some animal studies as well. 7:47 There's certain areas of the brain that have been impacted by isolation of the animals versus social impact when they're living more normally with other animals. 7:59 The immune system is definitely a big piece of this as well and certain immune cells are more activated and less activated under conditions of loneliness 8:09 and isolation. 8:09 Another large piece is cortisol, that stress hormone that we're going to be talking about quite a lot in this series. 8:17 And that in turn impacts on our insulin levels and makes us more resistant to insulin and raises our glucose levels, which of course would then have to 8:29 do with our risk of vascular disease and stroke and probably dementia as well. 8:35 I saw an interesting report that mentioned that the brain needs a workout to stay healthy and social interaction provides that workout. 8:46 And I don't know exactly what the research behind that was, but it kind of made sense to me that we are wired to be in situations with other people and 8:56 that there are undoubtedly parts of our brain that are specialized in that and that if we don't use them, use it or lose it. 9:03 Given the risks of loneliness and isolation, what can we do about this? 9:08 Well, Some of the obvious things are join a book club, join a group, join a church, participate in community activities, 9:17 volunteer for something, seek opportunities to be with other people and put it on your calendar, civic engagement involved in politics or issues that you 9:28 care about, And again, purpose here, we're going to be coming back to purpose in a number of our episodes, but having a life of purpose has been shown 9:39 repeatedly to lead to healthier and longer lifespan and health span. 9:44 One of the things to be paying attention to is one of the mechanisms that people may engage in to try to circumvent or numb down their feeling of loneliness. 9:55 And that is drugs and alcohol. 9:57 And of course, those are not healthy for us. 10:00 So if there's a tendency to have that second or third glass of wine or a cocktail because you're feeling lonely, it's something that you should try to 10:11 avoid if at all possible.
Closing Remarks and Call to Action 10:13 And of course, if you are already a smoker, try to minimize or give it up as much as possible. 10:18 So I hope I've provided you today with some of the concepts and the strategies behind the loneliness epidemic that we are establishing here in our normal 10:33 modern culture. 10:34 The risk of loneliness is said to be as great as the risk of smoking. 10:39 And that's certainly something to be very aware of and try to do some of the things that we just mentioned. 10:47 So I hope this is helpful and that you will come back and hear more about healthy health span for older women. 10:55 Thank you. 10:56 Thanks for listening to the Women's Health Span Voices podcast. 11:00 If today's episode spoke to you, follow the show and share it with a friend ready to take charge of her health. 11:07 And please leave a review. 11:09 It helps more women find us.
Comments