Find a partner! I bet you never thought of this benefit.

One of the topics that elders talk about when they go home for the Chinese New Year is definitely "life events". Many young people will also be arranged to go on blind dates. I believe most people are resistant to it. Because we pay more and more attention to ourselves, partners are no longer the "default setting".

However, today's article may change your view on blind dates: establishing a long-term, good intimate relationship may really be good for your body.

Loneliness really affects your health

Especially when you are old

Many elderly people have to stay in their old homes because their children and grandchildren have settled down elsewhere. Coupled with retirement, the departure of friends and colleagues, and the gradual disconnection from modern social networks, the elderly tend to be isolated and lonely.

Women in particular tend to live longer than men, which means older women are more likely to be widowed and live alone, in which case their health will be affected.

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A study of 57,825 postmenopausal women in the United States surveyed elderly people ranging in age from 65 to 99. The researchers first asked these elderly people to complete a questionnaire survey to measure social isolation. The results showed that a considerable number of elderly women felt socially isolated (lack of relationships with others, little or no social support or connection) or lonely, and older people were more likely to be lonely.

The scientists also looked at cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the population under study. When the two were analyzed together, they found that social isolation and loneliness were significant risk factors for CVD, which is also the leading cause of death in the elderly.

In other words, long-term social isolation or loneliness may harm one's health. If possible, it is recommended that you establish a long-term, good intimate relationship.

The impact of loneliness on health

Not just for the elderly

There is also a study in "JAMANetwOpen" that targeted a total of 620,000 people in China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, including both men and women, with a ratio of 47.6% vs 52.4%.

The study investigated these people's lifestyles, sociological characteristics, dietary habits, and the incidence of common major diseases such as coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cancer, etc.

The results showed that the all-cause mortality rate of unmarried people was 15% higher than that of married people. In simple terms, unmarried people are more likely to suffer from these serious diseases, resulting in a higher overall mortality rate than married people.

Among them, the most serious is coronary heart disease. The risk of death for unmarried people is 20% higher than that for married people. The second highest risk is death caused by accidents and circulatory system diseases. Even the cancer, which makes people shudder, is 6% higher.

The researchers also took into account the different situations of "unmarried people" and further divided the unmarried population into single, separated, divorced and widowed. The results showed that no matter which group, they suffered from these serious diseases more than married people.

Specifically, the all-cause mortality rate of single people is the most exaggerated, 62% higher, followed by divorced people, 38% higher, and separated people are almost the same, 35% higher. The situation of widowed people is relatively better, 9% higher.

It can be seen that no matter what form of singleness, it is not good for the body.

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However, it is interesting that if we divide it by gender, the situation is slightly different. Being single has a great impact on men's health, but it has basically no difference for women.

Single people are more likely to develop dementia

A study involving 812,047 people also found that people who stay single until old age have a much higher risk of developing dementia than married people, followed by those who are widowed.

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Sleeping with a partner

You can sleep better

In fact, having a partner has unexpected benefits, such as sleeping with a partner can help you sleep better. A 2020 study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry pointed out that compared with sleeping alone, couples have less fragmentation in the REM stage when they sleep together, and have more complete REM sleep. REM sleep is related to memory and relieving emotional stress. A more complete REM sleep may have a better effect on memory, mental health, and interpersonal communication.

In other words, sleeping together may be more beneficial to mental health and social interaction. A study published in the journal Sleep in 2022 came to a similar conclusion.

The study, which looked at the sleep patterns of more than 1,000 adults, found that people who slept with a partner fell asleep faster and slept longer than those who slept alone. They also reported lower self-ratings for depression, anxiety and stress, and less fatigue than those who slept alone.

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Of course, this is by no means a suggestion that everyone should just find a partner to help them fall asleep quickly. A long-term and stable partner can make people feel more emotionally satisfied and more likely to get better sleep quality.

After reading this, are you less resistant to your elders’ advice to find a partner?

References

[1]Golaszewski,NatalieM.,AndreaZ.LaCroix,JobG.Godino,MatthewA.Allison,JoAnnE.Manson,JenniferJ.King,JulieC.Weitlaufetal."Evalua tionofsocialisolation,loneliness,andcardiovasculardiseaseamongolderwomenintheUS."JAMAnetworkopen5,no.2(2022):e2146461-e2146461.

[2] Leung, ChiYan, Hsi-LanHuang, SarahKrullAbe, EikoSaito, MdRashedulIslam, MdShafiurRahman, AiIkedaetal. "Association of maritime status with total cause-specific mortality in Asia." JAMA network open 5, no. 5 (2022): e2214181-e2214181.

[3]Zhou,Maigeng,HaidongWang,XinyingZeng,PengYin,JunZhu,WanqingChen,XiaohongLietal."Mortality,morbidity,andriskfactorsinChi naanditsprovinces,1990–2017:asystematicanalysisfortheGlobalBurdenofDiseaseStudy2017."TheLancet394,no.10204(2019):1145-1158.

[4] Sommerlad, Andrew, Joshua Ruegger, Archana Singh-Manoux, Glyn Lewis, and Gill Livingston. "Marriage and risk of dementia: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies." Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry 89, no. 3 (2018): 231-238.

[5] Fuentes, Brandon, Kathryn Kennedy, William Killgore, Chloe Wills, and Michael Grandner. "0010BedSharingVersusSleepingAloneAssociatedwithSleepHealthandMentalHealth." Sleep45, no.Supplement_1(2022):A4-A4.

[6]Andre, Chloe J., Victoria Lovallo, and Rebecca MC Spencer. "The effects of bedsharingonsleep:Frompartnerstopets." SleepHealth7, no.3 (2021): 314-323.

This article is a work of Science Popularization China-Starry Sky Project

Produced by: Science Popularization Department of China Association for Science and Technology

Producer: China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.

Author: Li Lei, PhD in Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Reviewer: Li Jingjing Professor and Chief Physician, Department of Neurology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital