Centre for Policy on Ageing



Loneliness and vascular biomarkers — the Dublin Healthy Ageing Study
Author(s)	C O'Luanaigh, H O'Connell, A V Chin
Journal title	International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 27, no 1, January 2012
Pages	pp 83-88
Source	http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/gps
Keywords	Loneliness ; Ageing process ; Health [elderly] ; Ill health ; Vascular diseases ; Evaluation.
Annotation	Loneliness has been associated with poor physical health and a link has been suggested between the presence of loneliness, cardiovascular health and inflammatory markers. The present study aimed to investigate the association between vascular disease biomarkers and loneliness in a community-dwelling non-demented population of older adults. 466 volunteers with a mean age of 75.45 years took part in the study. Of these, 208 (44.6%) were male. Study findings revealed that higher levels of HbA1c, but not other vascular biomarkers were independently associated with being lonely. The authors conclude that loneliness was associated with raised levels of HbA1c in a community dwelling older population. The mechanism for this association has yet to be elucidated but may reflect an abnormal stress response in people who are lonely. (JL).
Accession Number	CPA-120914002 A
Classmark	DV: BG: CC: CH: CQP: 4C
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.