Not having friends can be as deadly as smoking, as per a new Harvard study, which has found a link between social isolation and the levels of a blood-clotting protein which can further cause heart attacks and stroke.
Loneliness usually triggers the ‘fight or flight’ stress signal which in return increases the levels of the protein fibrinogen in case of any injury and blood loss, researchers said.
However, too much fibrinogen is also bad for the body as it could further raise blood pressure and cause the build-up of some fatty deposits in the arteries.
Researchers from Harvard University in the US have, compared levels of fibrinogen with the number of friends and also family in a person’s social network and have found a link between the two.
Not having too many friends can dangerous
As the number of these social connections fell, the level of the blood clotting protein also rose, the researchers said.
Those who had only five people in their entire social network had 20 per cent higher levels of fibrinogen than people with 25.
Researchers found that having 10-12 fewer friends had the same impact on the fibrinogen levels as taking up smoking.
According to researchers, the social isolation leaves people feeling threatened and also vulnerable, which further activates an ongoing ‘fight or flight’ response which could be dangerous in the long run.
The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
