Loneliness shortens life expectancy

Scientists in China have discovered that living alone, separated from herds leads to increased mortality, according to MIT Technology Review.

Scientists conducted experiments to understand the social relations of fire ants and fruit flies. They found that individuals that separated from the herd would soon die.

Not communicating with fellow humans, ants and flies die much faster than when they live in the same kind. However, living in loneliness, flies died 10 times less than ants.

Repeated experiments repeatedly claim that most insects cannot live long enough but will die immediately if separated from their populations.

With insects like that, but is that true for people?

In the study, scientists compared the death rates and life expectancy of single people (never married) and widows, compared with those of normal families. often.

The results showed that the earliest death rate was among the widows (spouses) from a young age, and scientists thought that this person was still inextricably linked to his second half and they absorbed sadness. of the .

In the widowed widow (wife / husband) the persistence in the marriage relationship has weakened and the influence of this person on the other fades, all have become a habit, the impact of loneliness strong again.

According to experimental results, scientists were able to rank the strength of the relationship and the data were quite similar to previous research data in bee populations. If ranked, the order (from weak to strong) is in the following order: fruit fly, ant (without queen), ant (with queen), widow over 50 years old, widow under 30 years old, bee.

By the way, reiterating that in January this year, scientists deciphered the South American ant genome and discovered a 'gene' from 600 DNA fragments, identifying their social behavior.