U.K. Targets a Modern Health Scourge: Loneliness

More than 50 percent of all over-75-year-olds in the United Kingdom live alone, and in January the country appointed a minister for loneliness to help such people, reports Al Jazeera . Sports Minister Tracey Crouch will assume this post. Dr. Kellie Payne from the Campaign to End Loneliness says the healthcare impact of loneliness is quantifiable. "Having chronic loneliness predisposes you to many health conditions," she notes. "There's been a meta-analysis that looked at loneliness and it showed that it was as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. People that are lonely are more likely to get heart disease and stroke. Early onset of dementia comes earlier if you're lonely. It's linked to many mental health issues, like depression and suicide." One way to combat loneliness is to arrange for young persons to move in with seniors who are living alone, while another is Cocktails in Care Homes, an initiative to bring young people into senior care communities for an evening of cocktails and conversation.