Headline October 19, 2016/ ''' *LONELINESS : EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS* '''

''' *LONELINESS : 

EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS* '''

'''IT TAKES A VILLAGE  - to help people die with dignity. *And if you are lucky, it's the village of a good family.

After Mark Donham's wife, Chris, was diagnosed with early- onset Alzheimer's, he doubled down on his marriage vows.

He quit his job as a  well-paid sales representative in the printing industry and became his wife's  24-hour  caregiver; dressing her, doing laundry and scheduling social visits with friends.

*Faith, hope and courage became his new mantra*.

As Alzheimer's slowly progressed and Chris became frailer, their lives narrowed. To explain their painful emotional journey to friends, and family, Mr. Donham, who lives in Portland,Ore, began making videos and posting them on YouTube. 

When his wide didn't recognize him anymore,........he felt as if his heart was ripping apart.

Professor John T. Cacioppo  [ a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago],   -lauds efforts like  *The Silver Line*, yet he warns that the problem of loneliness is nuanced and the solutions not as obvious as they might seem.

That is, a  call-in-line can help reduce feelings of loneliness temporarily, but is not likely to reduce levels of  chronic loneliness.

In this research professor Cacioppo had shown that loneliness affects several key bodily functions, at least in part through overstimulation of the body's stress response.

Chronic Loneliness, his work has shown, is associated with increased levels of cortisol, a major stress hormone, as well as higher vascular resistance, which can raise blood pressure and decrease blood flow to vital organs.

Professor Cacioppo's research has also shown that the danger signals activated in the brain by loneliness ultimately affect the production of white blood cells; this can impair the immune system's ability to fight infections. 

It is only in the past several years that  loneliness  been examined through a medial,  rather than psychological  or  sociological , lens.

Dr. Perissnotto,  the  University of  California, San Francisco geriatrician, decided to study loneliness  she began to  sense  there  were  factors affecting her patients' health that she was failing to capture.

Using data from a large  national survey  of older adults in 2012. Dr. Perissnoto analyzed the relationship between  self-reported loneliness and health outcomes in people older than 60.

Of  1,604 participants in the study,  43 percent reported feelings of loneliness, and these individuals had significantly higher rates of declining mobility, difficulty in performing routine daily activities and death during six years of follow-up.

The association of loneliness with mortality remained significant even after adjusting for age,  economic status, depression and other common health problems.

Men and women differ greatly in how they grapple with loneliness. Seventy percent of the calls in The Silver Line  are from women.

''We have this kind of male pride thing,''  said Mike Jenn, 70, a retired charity worker who lives in London.

''We say, 'I can look look after myself. I don't need to talk to anyone,' and it's a complete fallacy.

Not communicating helps kills us.''  

With respectful and loving dedication to all the Elderly, Aged, Feeble, Grandparents, Parents, Students, Professors, Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW!   -the World Students Society, and Twitter-!E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' The Science '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless