Why Men Should Make More Friends

By Sora Song

People who need people are not just lucky; they may be healthier too. As part of the MacArthur Successful Aging Study, researchers examined more than 800 men and women in the context of their social networks and found that socially isolated men ages 70 to 79 appear to be at greater risk of heart disease than men with more robust social networks. The researchers looked at marital status, number of close friends and family members, and participation in social and religious clubs. Compared with men in the highest quartile on the social-network index, men in the lowest fourth had significantly greater blood levels of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, substances that are associated with inflammation and are believed to be markers for cardiovascular disease. Curiously, researchers found no such link between social well-being and heart disease risk among the women they studied. --By Sora Song