2023-10-20 14:32:13
Modern medicine tends to separate physical and mental health.
It’s a bit artificial, but it makes it easier for doctors to associate chemical medications with symptoms.
And when they don’t know what’s going on, they say “it’s in their head” and we ask the psychologist to take over.
For a long time, however, many caregivers have known that there are very clear relationships between the psyche and the body.
Chinese medicine has been saying this ever since it existed!
The fact is once once more confirmed by a study from the University of Florida which observes a correlation between Parkinson’s disease and loneliness which I will tell you regarding in more detail.(1).
The authors of the study believe that this is a first for this disease.
In the past, other studies have already established a link between loneliness and Alzheimer’s, dementia and cognition(2,3).
More recently, loneliness has also been linked to diabetes and obesity(4,5).
There is currently no cure for Parkinson’s disease.
Classical medicine uses chemical molecules that can relieve certain symptoms by acting on dopamine.
These medications are especially effective at the start of treatment(10).
Prior to the University of Florida study, the main risk factors for Parkinson’s disease were:
The JAMA study (Journal of American Medicine Association)
The study involves a gigantic cohort: half a million British patients(1).
Of this population, 2,800 developed Parkinson’s disease.
They were aged 38 to 73 and their medical records were followed for 15 years.
These people were asked regularly to answer the question:
“Do you feel alone?”
The researchers also noted the number of visits from friends or relatives received by each patient as well as the frequency of their social activities and the size of their household.
For them, the conclusion constitutes a first. They insist that their study shows that loneliness is a risk factor for the onset of the disease.
This is not simply an aggravating factor.
Being alone and feeling alone makes you sick.
When you visit a friend or loved one and take them out of their loneliness, you reduce their risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.
Tentative d’explication
At this point, researchers aren’t sure why loneliness would have such an effect on Parkinson’s disease.
They formulate two hypotheses(1) :
Hypothesis 1 : stress caused by loneliness creates chronic inflammation.
Inflammation is a reaction of the immune system intended to contain an attack.
When it becomes permanent and too high, the body weakens and metabolism deteriorates.
In the case of Parkinson’s, chronic inflammation in patients linked to loneliness would have an effect on neurons and dopamine.
Hypothesis 2 : the lack of social connection stiffens the brain and damages the neurons.
Indeed, researchers point out that social interactions have a considerable influence on the neuroplasticity of the brain.
At each meeting, at each discussion, he must adapt to new information, to reactions that he had not anticipated, etc.
Meeting others, even when it’s not easy, is vital!
Loneliness kills more than obesity!
English- and French-speaking magazines have recently been moved(16,17,18) figures linked to loneliness.
In the United States, a third of the population is obese, but up to 45% of the population feels lonely.
The risk of falling ill would be 50% lower among socially happy people compared to isolated people.
Many therapists(16,17,18) are worried regarding this situation.
Because our society, with its screens, its injunctions, its frenzied competition tends to make individuals alone.
And the Covid 19 episode, which has heightened the fear of others to the extreme, will not have improved the situation.
How to get out of loneliness?
The first thing to know is that in the eyes of science all social interactions count(18).
Your brain and its neurons do not classify encounters!
This means that you can both cultivate ties with your loved ones or enjoy informal meetings.
The second reassuring point is that it goes both ways. When you make the effort to meet someone, it’s good for you and it’s good for that person.
And even if an encounter did not go exactly as planned or might have been better experienced and as long as it was not traumatic, it increased the neuroplasticity of your brain!
In my opinion, the easiest way to meet others is to act with them: this happens through sport, common interests, the associative environment, etc.
One of my friends, who has been retired for a few years, is a gaming enthusiast.
He always has a game of dominoes with him.
He is delighted when you bring out a deck of cards or something new.
His time is shared between different associations, thanks to which he regularly meets new people who are more or less isolated.
And every time I see him, we play together.
Well ! You will believe me or not but this friend is never sick!
Every time you make the effort to reach out to someone else, you give them a little life and they give you more back.
Naturally yours,
Augustine of Livois
1697918394
#Institute #Natural #Health #Protection #link #loneliness #Parkinsons #disease
