Having Friends and Family Ties Can Add Years to Your Life

In the July issue of ‘PloS Medicine’ it is reported that a person having good friends along with strong family ties can add years to your life.

Julianne Holt-Lunstad, PhD, associate professor of psychology at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah said, “Our social relationships are important not only to our quality of life, but also our longevity.” The author of the study went on to say, “Throughout human history, we have relied on others for surivial such as protection and food, and despite modern advancements that may (help with) certain aspects of survival so that we can live more independently, it appears that our relationships nonetheless will impact odds of survival.”

The researchers analyzed 148 studies. These studies examined the effect of social relationships in regard to the risk of death. The study involved 308,849 people who were followed for an average of 7.5 years. It was discovered that people with strong social relationships had a 50 per cent more chance of likely to be alive. The results remained the same despite age, gender, or health status, as well as for all causes of death. Dr. Holt-Lunstad concluded that, “We can’t say whether family is more important than friends, but we can say that the way in which social relationships were assessed with matter.”