Researchers found 5 proteins linked to loneliness contribute to health issues

Seeing friends and family boosts our immune system, cuts the risk of stroke and slashes the chances of developing type 2 diabetes, scientists claim.

Analysis of 42,000 blood samples from the UK Biobank has found that five proteins specifically linked to loneliness contribute to a raft of health issues.

Researchers now say their findings drive home the importance of social contact in keeping healthy.

Published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, the results follow previous studies claiming that social isolation and loneliness are linked to lower wellbeing and early death. The reasons why, however, have remained elusive.

The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, examined blood proteins in 40- to 69-year-olds and noted which ones were at higher levels in socially isolated volunteers.

Some of the five proteins caused by loneliness are already linked to cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, insulin resistance and an early death.

Cambridge’s Professor Barbara Sahakian said: “These findings drive home the importance of social contact in keeping us well.”