Being lonely ‘may increase risk of heart disease in diabetes patients’
Being lonely may the increase risk of heart disease in diabetes patients, research suggests. Scientists have found loneliness to be a bigger risk factor for coronary heart disease – a condition where the blood vessels supplying the heart are narrowed or blocked – than diet, exercise, smoking and depression. The researchers said their findings, published in the European Heart Journal, highlight the importance of meaningful social relationships to stay healthy. Study author Professor Lu Qi, of Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, said: “The quality of social contact appears to be more important for heart health in people with diabetes than the number of engagements “We should not downplay the important of loneliness on physical and emotional health. “I would encourage patients with diabetes who feel lonely to join a group or class and try to make friends with people who have shared interests.” For the study, the researchers looked at data from the UK Biobank – an online database of medical and lifestyle records from more than half a million Britons – involving more than 18,000 adults aged between 37 to 73. These people had diabetes but no heart disease at the start of the decade-long study. The researchers used questionnaires to assess loneliness and other factors that may affect relationships such as body mass index (BMI), physical activity, diet, alcohol, smoking, and medications, blood pressure, cholesterol and control of blood sugar. The findings suggest that asking patients with diabetes about loneliness should become part of standard assessment, with referral of those affected to mental health services Prof Lu Qi Over the course of more than 10 years, more than 3,000 people developed heart disease, which included coronary heart disease or stroke. The researchers found those who scored the highest in loneliness had a 26% greater risk of heart disease, compared to people with lower scores. The team also found loneliness to be a bigger risk factor for heart disease than diet, exercise, smoking and depression – but showed a weaker influence when compared to kidney function, cholesterol and BMI. Professor Qi said: “Loneliness ranked higher as a predisposing factor for cardiovascular disease than several lifestyle habits. “We also found that for patients with diabetes, the consequence of physical risk factors (ie poorly controlled blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and poor kidney function) was greater in those who were lonely compared to those who were not.” “The findings suggest that asking patients with diabetes about loneliness should become part of standard assessment, with referral of those affected to mental health services.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live 7 ways to save money on your hair Sarcoma Awareness Month: What you need to know about these cancers Bjork’s controversial swan dress to go on display in new exhibition
1970-01-01 08:00
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1970-01-01 08:00
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1970-01-01 08:00
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1970-01-01 08:00
Scientists discover secret planet hidden in our solar system
There are eight planets in our solar system – plus poor old Pluto, which was demoted in 2006 – but what if there were more? Turns out that might be the case. Astronomers have calculated there is a 7 per cent chance that Earth has another neighbour hiding in the Oort cloud, a spherical region of ice chunks and rocks that is tens of thousands of times farther from the sun than we are. “It’s completely plausible for our solar system to have captured such an Oort cloud planet,” said Nathan Kaib, a co-author on the work and an astronomer at the Planetary Science Institute. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Hidden worlds like this are “a class of planets that should definitely exist but have received relatively little attention” until now, he said.. If a planet is hiding in the Oort cloud, it’s almost certainly an ice giant. Large planets like Jupiter and Saturn are generally born as twins. They have huge gravitational pulls of their own, however, and sometimes destabilise one another. That could have led to a planet to be nudged out of the solar system entirely – or exiled to its outer reaches, where the Oort cloud resides. “The survivor planets have eccentric orbits, which are like the scars from their violent pasts,” said lead author Sean Raymond, researcher at the University of Bordeaux’s Astrophysics Laboratory. That means that the Oort cloud planet could have a significantly elongated orbit, unlike the near-perfect circle Earth tracks around the sun. Trouble is, when things are that far away, they’re pretty difficult to spot. “It would be extremely hard to detect,” added Raymond. “If a Neptune-sized planet existed in our own Oort cloud, there’s a good chance that we wouldn’t have found it yet,” said Malena Rice, an astronomer at MIT not involved in this work. “Amazingly, it can sometimes be easier to spot planets hundreds of light-years away than those right in our own backyard.” Time to crack out the telescope. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
1970-01-01 08:00
Sri Lanka Seeks to Restructure $19.8 Billion of Local Debt
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Facebook urged to suspend strongman leader over video threatening violence
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