Contact:
Mag. My Hue McGowran
Phone: +43-1-81140-308
E-Mail: mcgowran@newsfox.com
| Pressbox | 
|
Adelaide, Australia (pte044/16.06.2005/16:15) - A recent Australian study has found that close friendships may keep us alive longer.
Although previous studies have shown that strong social networks influenced longevity in older people, they haven't shown this phenomenon in regards to family and relatives.
Lynne Giles of Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia http://www.flinders.edu.au/search/ , said, "friends are perhaps less likely to be a source of negative stress, which, for some older people, their children can be," commenting on the fact that close friends and confidantes may help us to cope in times of stress and difficulty.
Friends might also encourage healthy behaviours, such as seeking help for new medical symptoms. In an additional paper, Journal of Epidemiological and Community Health http://jech.bmjjournals.com/ , Carlos Mendes de Leon of the Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, US, adds that close connections with friends may have a positive physiological effect on the body, compared to the negative effect caused by stress.
About 1500 Australians, initially over 70, were monitored. Those who said they had regular contact, both personal and by phone, to five or more friends were 22 per cent less likely to die in the next ten years than those who had fewer, more distant friends.
The presence of family members or relatives seemed to have no influence on life span.
(end)
|
|
