Healthy living
Mind matters
How friendship fight disease
Looking after friendships – old and new – may boost your defences against disease
Over the past 20 or so years research has shown that social support - aka friendship - may help protect against a raft of diseases ranging from cancer to heart disease and depression. Here's what friendship can do for your health:
Strengthens your heart
A study at North Carolina's Duke University of 1,000 people with heart disease found that half those who were unmarried and had no one to confide in died within five years, while 85 per cent of those who were unmarried but had a close friend survived.
Boosts immunity
A plethora of studies have found various ways in which social support benefits the immune system. One of the most recent carried out at the University of Birmingham in March 2006 found that flu vaccination works less effectively in over 65-year-olds who have recently experienced the death of a relative or close friend than in those who are happily married.
A number of other studies have shown that people with a high level of social support have higher levels of 'killer' cells - important members of the immune army - suggesting that friends can increase your natural immunity.
Helps fight breast cancer
Social support has long been associated with a better outcome for women with breast cancer. In one study from the University of California, socially isolated women had a higher risk of dying after a diagnosis of breast cancer. In another study from Stanford University in the US, women with advanced breast cancer who attended a weekly support group lived twice as long as those who did not.
Protects your prostate
A 1999 study showed that men with high levels of stress and less satisfying contacts with friends and family members had high levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in their blood, a 'marker' which can be associated with the development of prostate cancer.
Encourages sound sleep
A study from the University of Chicago found that lonely adults slept less soundly, woke more frequently and had less regenerative deep sleep than those with good social networks. The research also showed that their wounds healed more slowly.
Uplifts your spirits
In a UK study of a group of chronically depressed women who were assigned visits from a volunteer 'friend' or placed on a waiting list, 72% of those who saw a 'friend' regularly experienced an uplift in mood, compared with just 45% in the control group. This is as effective as standard treatments for depression such as antidepressants or cognitive therapy.
Helps you to live longer
Research from Flinders University in Australia found that people in the top third of friendship networks were 22% less likely to die over the following decade than people in the lowest third. This applied even if the person had experienced life changes such as the death of a spouse or close family members or friends moving to other parts of the country - stressful events, which are associated with a higher risk of mortality.
Information on this site is for interest only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult your own doctor about any specific health concerns.