Socialising regularly holds the key to longer life

Seeing friends every day more than halves the risk of dying for those in their 80s, research suggests

THE Book of Proverbs teaches that: “Just as lotions and fragrance give sensual delight, a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.” Now researchers have shown that friends really are a balm, and seeing them regularly in later life may help to extend lifespan.

For people in their 80s, socialising every day more than halves the risk of dying in the next five years, compared with living a solitary existence, experts have found.

While one in five of the most isolated died in the five-year follow up, just one in 14 people with active daily social lives died.

Even people who only socialised occasionally cut their chance of death within five years to one in 11, while those who socialised once a week slashed their risk to one in 13.

The team found a “dose response” with the greater the frequency of socialising, the greater the likelihood of living longer.

Researchers from the West China Hospital, Sichuan University, said tthat hey were unsure why socialising might extend life, but have suggested that having lots of friends may encourage healthier behaviours, increase physical activity, and help reduce stress. The link remained even when accounting for other factors such as health and wealth. Writing in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, Dr Sen He, said: “Frequent participation in social activity was associated with prolonged overall survival time.

“From baseline to five years of follow-up, the more frequent the social activity, the more prolonged the survival time.”

According to Age UK, more than two million people in England over the age of 75 live alone, and more than a million older people say they go over a month without speaking to a friend, neighbour or family member.

Previous studies have shown that loneliness is not just an emotional state of mind, it actually triggers genetic changes which cause illness and early death.

It also increases activity in genes which produce inflammation in the body while lowering activity in genes which fight off illness, promoting high levels of inflammation in the body. For the new study, researchers looked at people enrolled in the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, an ongoing, prospective nationally representative study of older people living independently, which began in 1998.

Time to death was delayed by 42 per cent in those who socialised occasionally, by 48 per cent in those who did at least monthly, and by 87 per cent in those who did so nearly every day, compared with those who said they never socialised.