Harvard scientists find eight surprising social factors that increase your risk of early death – including living in an unclean neighborhood, not seeing your children, or disregarding respect

When your friends and family don’t spend enough time with you, it’s not only annoying, it can also shorten your life span.

A joint research team from Harvard University, Mass General Hospital and the University of California, San Francisco found eight key factors that can predict how much time a person has left to live.

It was loneliness and not seeing children on the one hand, but also living in a dirty neighborhood or the feeling of being treated less respectfully by others.

Researchers point out that while many only look at medical factors, social health can also play a key role in longevity.

They warned that loneliness shortens lifespan because it is associated with higher levels of stress, which increases the risk of many chronic diseases. Others are linked to problems with access to good health care and a balanced diet.

Dr. Sachin Shah, the physician, scientist and Harvard faculty member who led the research, said: “We often emphasize the importance of disease when we think about longevity.

‘[But] This research shows that our social life is just as important as medical conditions.’

He added: “Based on our data, we developed a 10-question survey that uses age, gender and social characteristics to predict longevity. This research also predicts other outcomes important to older people, such as independent living .’

The eight offenses included living in a dirty neighborhood, seeing children less than once a year and not being involved in the community through activities such as volunteering (list below).

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In the study, published this week in the journal PNAS, the researchers analyzed the results of the University of Michigan-led Health and Retirement Study, which included 20,000 people aged 50 and over.

The team used the results to compile a 10-question survey that could predict longevity – called the Social Vulnerability Index.

It asks people about their age, gender, whether they have children before moving on, whether they feel isolated and how often they interact with others.

Several studies have shown that loneliness carries a similar risk of shortening life as factors such as smoking, obesity and lack of exercise.

Researchers say this is because people who are lonely have more stress – or higher levels of the body’s stress hormone, cortisol.

Scientists warn that it increases the risk of a variety of health problems, including heart disease, Alzheimer’s and high blood pressure.

Other studies have also pointed out that not being able to work increases the risk of a shorter lifespan.

Reasons for this are, for example, a higher stress level, but also to be able to spend less money on good health care or a balanced diet.

It was not clear why other factors, such as dirt roads, could lead to an earlier death.

However, this may be because they are an indicator of socio-economic status and therefore access to health care or a more balanced diet.