Social Connections and Your Health

By Alfred Anduze

Social Connections and Your Health is a contemporary look at the origins, evolution, history, and science of human social life. In the text we look at where this behavior came from, where it is at present and where it maybe going. The biochemistry of socializing and the formation and management of social connections involving the presence and activity of feel-good hormones and feel-bad hormones vying for expression and based on genetics, environment, and oxidative stress are presented in terms of positive and negative effects. Pro-Social and antisocial behavior are discussed with emphasis on the influence of each on human interactions as well as on the mental and physical health of individuals and groups, with respect to their association with anxiety, depression, heart disease, dementias, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Friendships and hostilities, cooperation and conflicts are closely linked to longevity and quality of life. We see how anti-social behavior manifests itself in lack of basic manners, rudeness, snobbery, selfishness, us vs them exclusions and the concept of "others" and its resultant dysfunctional societies. Social experiences compare the effects of friendliness and indifference in shaping the character of a people within counties and regions. Protocols for building and improving social skills among the various age groups are suggested and provided. The effects of social distancing and isolation in the present Covid pandemic are examined and possible solutions to minimize the damages to mental and physical health are provided. Emphasis is placed throughout on the importance of socializing across diverse lines and the quality and quantity of social behavior and its close connections with good health. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yorkshire Publishing
• Release date: Dec 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781957262024

Alfred Anduze

Alfred Lee Anduze, MD is a native Virgin Islander, with family roots in France, Puerto Rico, and Easter United States. Growing up among the great storytellers and fabricators of a small but cosmopolitan multiethnic community, he acquired an unquenchable love for reading and global travel. As a practicing ophthalmologist, producing scientific papers for journals and lecturing on the international circuit, he wrote original stories, crosswords and articles on Caribbean subjects. After serving his community in various faculty and administrative positions, and lecturing on Ophthalmic surgery in 32 countries, he acquired an Andrew Weil Fellowship in Integrative Medicine and a Masters certificate in Herbal Medicine. In 2012, he retired to farm medicinal plants and organic coffee in the mountains of Puerto Rico. Away from the halls of conventional medicine, he strongly advocates that the best way to treat disease is Prevention, not to get sick in the first place. By applying the basic principles of science to understanding the causes of disease, one can attain and maintain good health and well being in the 21st century, through natural means. He can be reached at [e-mail]

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Dedication

To my children, grandchildren, family and friends for your social contribution to my good health.

To the CENTENARIANS of Ikaria from whom we learned so much about longevity, who set the example to follow and who followed their own example as proof that human life can be long and rewarding at the same time.

To my grandparents and all the grandparents of the world for their wisdom and patience and knowledge of the kind of life that allowed us to become grandparents.

And to Theodore (Ted), a British gentleman guest at the Turim Hotel in Lisbon, who apparently lived there and plied his special talent for meeting people and making them and himself, feel good.

Preface

The reason I wrote this book:

Why do some people smile, offer and return greetings when getting on an elevator or entering a room occupied by strangers, and some people avert their gaze, stare straight ahead or at their electronic devices and otherwise ignore others?

Why are some people friendly and engaging and others blank or hostile?

Why are some people social and others, antisocial?

In a new world of social distancing, why should anyone ever learn to be social?

Is sharing hugs and laughter with family and friends different anywhere on our planet?

Is socializing the common denominator that keeps societies healthy?

Why this book is different?

Social Connections and your Health is the second in a linked series of basic strategies for good health; the others being stress control, nutrition, exercise, mental stimulation and toxin avoidance. It identifies the processes involved in how social interactions can lead to connections; provides international experiences (survey results) and results of scientific studies on viewpoints of socializing. It offers an introduction to research on young adults and the effects of electronic immersion and the new social distancing on social interactions and our health. It includes practical solutions via protocols for improving social skills and author experiences based on reality, and not conjecture.

Our planet, Earth, is shared space. With a population of seven (7) billion people and counting, we encounter each other more often than not. With widespread travel and the availability of internet information, exposure to different people is a common experience and no longer a viable excuse for antisocial behavior.

Ants greet each other, exchange messages and plans and get things done. Most animals meet and greet and some fight over territorial and reproductive rights, but none get riled up, angry and determined to ostracize, demonize and separate over such trivia as skin color, ethnicity, class standing or education.

Refusing to acknowledge the presence of another human or refusing to congregate or mix because of minor differences in appearance and culture is abnormal behavior. Setting restrictive rules on socializing, being told explicitly to avoid and to hate others, is unnatural and cannot be of any advantage except to set up a false sense of security, upset and/or irritate a fellow human being. Antisocial behavior is a detriment to human health and well-being and its widespread use and promotion by any group is plainly absurd.

As a pre-kindergartener, I noticed that all children laughed and cried in the same manner and for the same reasons, no matter what their differences in appearance. Why was socializing restricted to certain groups as we grew older?

In the early 1960s, I was fortunate to leave my small community in the Caribbean, venture out into the world and experience a European education. At the wide-eyed age of fourteen, I was blessed with parents and siblings who encouraged the now endangered art of reading and learning about distant lands and cultures. Determined to become "un homme du monde, whatever that would be, four years later, while firmly matriculated into a pre-med program on the US mainland, I realized that the students, teachers and people that I had met in those formative years had contributed enormously to my becoming social". My range and quality of friends and acquaintances ran far and wide and still sustain my mental health and overall well-being, some six decades later.

I am neither a sociologist nor a psychologist, and do not profess to know all the problems and solutions of our social connections, and if it is broken or evolving naturally. However, my scientific training and forty- plus years of practical experience in medicine have provided me with some sense of what is required for a human being to be healthy.

A decent functional social life is essential to good health, while antisocial behavior and loneliness are consistent with poor health. As a physician in training, I learned to approach my patients with a complete history and physical, including a social history. Frequently, this space in the record focuses on drug use, or is noted as WNL (within normal limits). The record then goes on to more important features, such as the scar on the head, the last flu shot, the fracture of the tibial bone, the atrial fibrillation, the drug prescriptions, and loss of vision after repeated vitreous hemorrhages. What were the circumstances that led to these events? It is imperative to remember that everyone’s social history matters. What kind of alcohol is imbibed? How often and with whom? How many family and close friends where there, and how often encountered? What is the individual’s attitude toward strangers? The answers may hint at the level of stress present and its effect on the endocrine system of hormones. The causes and progressions of many medical dysfunctions are closely related to the environment and social structure of the community. By paying attention to social history as a major contributor to the cause of the condition, it can become a significant factor in the approach and recovery of any illness.

Social interaction in my medical practice has always been an important part of the patient’s visit. From the initial handshake or hug of an old friend, much can be made of the warmth or coldness, the expression of one’s feelings in a positive or negative reception and how the encounter contributes toward to the relief of tension and anxiety… which in turn serve to aid digestion, reduce irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), constipation, increase absorption, reduce inflammation and relieve nerve problems. The barriers of social distancing will significantly alter this relationship. The long-term effects on health remain to be seen.

Prevention is better than cure.

Of the six basic lifestyle strategies listed in Natural Health and Disease Prevention, Social Connections have just as important an influence on one’s health as do the other five, adequate exercise, good nutrition, stress control, mental stimulation and avoidance of toxins and bad habits. While research studies in Japan in the early 1990s rated exercise as #1 in reducing stress associated with the disease process, social connections increased in importance and are right there alongside as its relationship with loneliness and depression has been exposed and examined. As longevity rates increase, who will be there to help with stress control; who will help with the basic activities of daily living (ADL) once an individual is incapacitated or at the age where and when assistance is required, who will help plan and prepare with the end of life; who will call the doctor when one is sick, or sit with you and provide some degree of comfort? What impact will the reduction in social interactions have on our collective health in the new normal world?

Humans need give and receive the attention of another. This is seen in the relief of loneliness by having a pet, as proven with the success of bringing pets to visit patients in confinement. The need to socialize goes along with the need to have a sense of purpose, which is the underlying drive that supports a good quality of life. Being connected provides daily activities, affection, laughter, love, something to look forward to, and satisfaction of accomplished tasks. Every human being has issues, large or small, internal or external based on events detrimental to or benefitting general health. While In Search of a Stress-free Life presents the role of stress and its biochemical reactions in the initiation and persistence of disease conditions, this book focuses on why and how socializing or not socializing, having friends or enemies, productive rivalries, outright hostilities and abject loneliness can affect one’s health. This book examines how people interact and how these interactions lead to connections that contribute to good health and why and how the lack of interactions contributes to poor health. We associate socializing with good health while antisocial and asocial behavior are linked to poor health.

How and why tribal status, caste, and class came to determine the characteristics of social interactions, and why these relationships persist is highlighted as a major determinant of who interacts with whom. Some societies have moved on from tribal restraints and expanded their range of social interactions, and others have not.

Though far from being scientific, I made up my own survey and named it the ECNS test. The Eye Contact, Nod and Smile test consists of making eye contact with elevator riders, beach walkers, mall shoppers, and anywhere that groups of people pass or congregate leisurely, while trying to avoid those in a hurry or performing a specific task. Over the course of five years, I did this test in 20 different countries, on four continents, recorded the responses and assigned the rates of friendliness to various groups based on their responses. Anyone can do this test, anywhere, anytime and with anyone. (See technique and rationale in Chapter One and results in Chapter Four). Basic manners (for your health and everybody else’s) when entering an elevator, a restaurant, a café or anywhere a relatively small group congregates is to say hello or smile. Looking someone in the eyes and bidding basic greetings elicits the release of good hormones in both parties. When someone else enters and says nothing, avoids eye contact and ignores or does not acknowledge an existence of you or anyone else, the release of bad hormones is almost palpable. A smile is infinitely, ultimately, and universally healthier than a frown or a blank stare. In certain societies, people exhibit and respond to basic manners better and more often than in others.

As I write these notes, social distancing in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, is the order of the day. In the USA, interactions requiring social skills were on the decline anyway and how we were treating others left much to be desired. Social distancing may have provided a solid excuse to be antisocial. Sincere interest and interactions with others are much lower than in most developed countries, and now is being promoted and even set as the rule of law. Especially for the youth, attention directed at improving social skills may be all but abandoned completely. It is possible that the sagging health statistics may drop even more. Though social interactions alone are beneficial to both mental and physical health, the creation of connections serves to solidify and maintain one’s good health. Note that one may interact but fail to connect. This happens often when effective social skills are lacking or the situation and participants just don’t have the right chemistry or temperament. Successful interactions lead to successful connections that lead to providing positive factors for good health.

What does this book offer?

Besides demonstrating the relationship between social connections and good health, it attempts to show exactly how they fit together and depend on one another. By focusing on the causes of problems, solutions emerge. Rather than treating symptoms of a condition, examination of the how and why can lead to a means of prevention.

Here are a few simple relationships, cause/effects, problem/solution. Keeping and maintaining good relations with family and friends stimulates the mind and provides security and relative freedom from the fear that ageing brings. Conflict is a ubiquitous obstacle to healthy living, coping with change becomes a major challenge and when effective, can overcome such life-changing events as retirement and feelings of uselessness, losing a loved one, changes in living arrangements, loss of control over one’s activities of daily living, and ultimately, one’s independence.

In the 21st century, socializing or not socializing has become a matter of choice. Cooperation for building, production and preservation is no longer a necessity as machines and technology can accomplish similar physical results. As preferred policies of exclusion replace the principles of inclusion, the human social structure will change or be torn down. The choice is between socializing and respecting each other’s space and worth, or competing to destroy the rival, destroy the self and the environment as a secondary casualty.

Modern European populations appear to value quality of life more than material wealth... though the recent rise of the right-wing populism may put this tenet in deep dispute. The prevalence of hatred and antisocial behavior may well plunge Europe into the depths of poor social skills that would affect the general health of the population, as it has in other cultures.

Every human being has value and is worthy of social interaction. By refusing to socialize with certain people or under certain circumstances, one diminishes the value of the other person. Socializing is a lifestyle strategy that could benefit both individual and global health, by reducing the chemical and physical stresses that lead to anxiety and depression, cardiovascular and neurological diseases. Failure to socialize is detrimental to one’s health and to the welfare of the inhabitants of the planet.

Disclaimer

If anything in this book offends you or you find your personality described to a tee on these pages, it was not intentional.

If you think that my diatribes and opinions were made in anger, I assure that they were not.

Disappointment yes, anger, no. I am disappointed that so many of my fellow human beings have chosen heartlessness and cruelty over kindness and compassion. That the antisocial behavior of so many has surged to the point where hundreds of thousands of people have died from a pandemic that could have been curtailed by more cooperation and caring, is truly disappointing. That many of our leaders and ordinary countrymen openly chose material profits over the lives of our neighbors is a tough pill for me to swallow.

I am disappointed that my elderly life has so little value to the younger generations that they stride mask-less in my face and think nothing of it.

By the end of the book, if it still seems angry to you, I apologize. Try to see beyond the presentation and kindly join me in recognizing the problems inherent in modern human behavior, adjust your own lifestyle appropriately and strive to bring a better quality of life to our fellow human beings.

Introduction

"Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god."

Aristotle, Politics.

Sociality, kindness and antisocial behavior are hard-wired into the DNA of humans. The expression of one over the other depends on the tenor of the society. Both the quantity and quality of social connections are essential to good health. Pro-social behavior is preferred over anti-social behavior and prevails in survival issues and efforts to reproduce.

We associate anti-social behavior with chemically directed stress and though it has serious consequences on the health of both the inflictor and the receiver, remains prevalent in the lives of modern Homo sapiens.

What determines the extent of our interactions with others, anyone apart from oneself or immediate family? What if the Good Samaritan had decided not to stop and help the stranger? In a world surrounded and driven by thievery and aggression on the one hand and indifference and scorn on the other, he could have decided to look the other way and walk past the one in need. What factor or factors made him stop and interact? What makes us pass a beggar on the sidewalk and keep our eyes averted lest they make contact? Must we keep our souls clean and safe from his plea and bodies sterile from the infestation of his poverty Upon chance encounters, what makes us decide to engage or disengage, interact or ignore?

The raw guts of this book are how and why some people are social and others are anti- social; how and why some interactions lead to social connections and others do not; how and why encounters, greetings, slights and rejections among human beings elicit physical and emotional reactions; how and why both affect one’s health positively or negatively; and how and why one’s health affects the ability and motivation to socialize.

The need to interact and share our experiences with others is universally human, yet some do it better than others. Social interactions are linked to good health, and conversely antisocial behavior leads to adverse chemical reactions associated with loneliness, depression and poor health. Human compassion is innate and heartlessness is learned. Social skills can be natural or acquired with minimal effort.

Vignette #1: John Brown is a physician, speaks three languages, lives in a major city in a First World country. He travels often, sees patients from multiple cultures, which highlights his ability to communicate, and has a wide diversity of friends. JB is in excellent health supported by a nutritious diet, exercise, mental stimulation from science and cultural exposure to different people with all of which he is comfortable. He handles the stresses of life with grace and aplomb and responds with high creativity and productivity. Jack Smith is a physician in the same city, speaks three languages, avoids socializing whenever he can, is short-tempered with staff, prefers to diagnose through laboratory results, limits time with patients and defers follow up visits to associates. He eats alone, is frequently depressed and recently developed hypertension and heart arrhythmias.

Social Interactions

The way a person acts toward and within the group defines his/her sociality. Such behavior may be pleasant and is beneficial to one’s general health and well-being. It may be hostile especially when directed toward others or when received as threatening or undesirable, and may lead to chemical stress, which is a major risk factor in disease formation. Any social interaction that boosts the spirits will often lead to increased health and likewise when linked to stress is likely to impact one’s health negatively. Being sociable means being involved, caring, giving, being compassionate towards others, being humane, and interacting with one another as opposed to the me, me, me, I win-you lose mentality, I have it all and want more…at your expense and that makes me great. According to Sociology 101, there are five (5) types of social interactions: exchange, competition, conflict, cooperation and accommodation.

There are multiple factors in human interactions; pro-social and antisocial, positive and negative, peaceful and warlike, loving and hateful. Whichever is expressed eventually dominates. The mental and physical state of the individual and of the group, and the health of the environment are significant factors. For example, for a social interaction to occur, the status, appearance, speech, and conduct of the participants and the availability of an appropriate environment must meet basic requirements of acceptance.

The highlight of socializing lies in the Greek philotimo, the welcoming benevolent treatment of strangers by a majority of its population. In Report to Greco, by Nikos Kazantzakis, on encountering an old lady while on a mountain trail, the stranger receives her hospitality in sharing a meal, a drink, a place to sleep and expresses his appreciation. When asked why she was so hospitable, she replied, You are human, I am human, too. As humans sharing the same space, the least we can do is acknowledge it. Nature does not specify who is better or worse. There are no inherent rules defining appearance or material wealth as determinant factors in dictating human interactions. What gives one the right to deny the existence of another?

What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well…

Anonymous

Interacting with your environment can and may elicit a similar positive or negative response, as it does when one interacts with people.

Social interactions have been severely restricted by events such as disasters, pandemics, and wars. Public places of normal human interaction, like banks, cafes, and grocery stores are opportunities for people to gather, converse, and perhaps connect. Now we are restricted by Covid-19 distancing, masking and stay-at-home orders. Likewise, using electronic devices for communication has led to reduced opportunities to physically interact with others. A bad ride, a long wait or a tour group that would have led to interactions between strangers, are almost non-existent. Antisocial people who rarely make eye contact, exchange basic greetings or talk to strangers are quite comfortable and satisfied. It remains to be seen what the long-term effects of lack from the lack of touching and adequate social interactions will bring.

Social Connections

Encounter -> Interaction -> Acquaintance -> Connection -> Bond

Social connections are the relationships you have with the people in your life. They may be family and neighbors, close or far away, accessible only with electronic devices or travel, but involve various levels of affection, friendship and trust. Social connections require more emotional energy and sense of permanence than do interactions or acquaintances.

The primary advantage of connections lies in the health benefits, both mental and physical. People who genuinely care about each other live longer and have a better quality of life than those who are resentful and hateful towards each other.

Strong connections usually involve relatives, marriage, close friends, and special individuals within specific groups. Being willing and able to confide private matters is the cornerstone of strong relationships. Group participation or time spent appreciating the environment often leads to quality time spent with friends. In all cases, connections instill a sense of well-being and belonging that enhances one’s health. The best relationships are those in which there is no sense of urgency, where money and status are not qualifying factors, and where materials and time are shared equally and sincerely.

Time and emotional energy invested in other humans have value.

Each of us is worth something. "Do not ignore or neglect me."

Author

Having good social connections is the secret to solid mental development, security and a happy life. Meaningful relationships are a prescription for better emotional, mental, and physical health. Identifying and building social connections start with the family unit. One sharpens social skills with relatives, then with school friends and extend to distant acquaintances. The development of inclusive, positive techniques and habits, leads to confidence, which opens doors to meeting and creating more connections.

The transition from social interaction to connection is natural and involves mutual need and benefit cemented by trust.

Besides good health, social connections are linked to success in endeavors, longevity, better nutrition through association, less depression, less disease susceptibility, and better quality of life. Both providing and finding social support lends to positive relationships, less stress, more reliability, consistency and stability, which in turn contribute to good mental and physical health. With strong social connections in place, the accompanying support ensures a sense of belonging and grounding that reduces chronic stress. In achieving a stress-free environment, there is a natural increase in feel-good hormones and decrease in feel-bad hormones associated with poor health. Support means love, trust, and availability of advice exchanged with others, preferably with trusted family, like-minded friends and people with similar senses of purpose. To maintain the psyche, one needs sustainable and renewable energy to establish belonging, standing in the community, country and world to mean something to oneself and to have purpose. Achieving this state of balance explicitly and implicitly involves other people. External relationships of family and friends provide both mental and physical feelings of success,

Social connections have an enormous impact on physical, emotional & mental well-being.

What do social connections and socializing have to do with health? They are directly related. There are many stories and instances of loners existing quite well. Are they healthy? Probably not. Biochemically they are deficient and physiologically, they function differently. Social connections are necessary for development of the mind and nourishment of the body by exchanging ideas and events. Internal well-being depends on one’s reaction and handling of incidents ranging from minor irritations to major crises. Stress may be acute and repeated as with financial burdens, work-related issues, deadlines, and extended commutes, or chronic, long- term, and perpetual such as racism leveled upon non-white males in schools, streets, home, or job. Not complying with the expected norm, academic shortfalls because of inadequate facilities or motivation, issues with interpersonal relationships and errant interactions ranging from daily lack of courtesies to repeated lack of concern or attention between one group and another, threats, real and perceived, to one’s livelihood, domicile, inner circle and larger group dynamics are not easy hurdles to clear.

Social connections seek to identify and settle the organism into a comfort zone. Multiple positive interactions lead to higher chances of solid connections linked to good health and better chances of survival and reproductive opportunities.

Pro-Social / Antisocial Behavior

Social Connections leading to Friendships are the cornerstones of healthy living. Pro-Social Behavior is natural. Humans need each other and thrive when they are together. Anti-Social behavior along with toxin intake (smoking and drugs) and lack of physical activity, are major causes of inadequate bodily functions and eventual poor health. Socializing is natural and any other doctrine that promotes separation and domination of one group over another, such as Nazi-ism, Fascism, and Institutional Racism are unnatural and detrimental to the health of both the individual and the society. A large inequality gap increases separation along class and ethnic lines, foments resentment, hatreds and lack of interactions and reduces the incidence of social connections. Recently, only 50% of Americans report having meaningful daily face-to-face social interactions (i.e. before the pandemic). The pandemic came along and the already fragmented society appeared to fall apart. While the dominant group has access to safety and material necessities, the vulnerable suffer and experience disproportionate loses. Socializing is reduced for both groups.

Countries with social policies of separation and discrimination will not do as well in containing a pandemic as those with unified societies.

Social behavior in different cultures is often ascribed to tribalism and can go both ways. In excerpts from an interview with Klee Benally, a Navajo activist, as told to Jacqueline Keeler, for NPR, reported 4/20/2019, Notre Dame and the Fight for Sacred Lands (Common Dreams.net), he revealed that some built monuments of stone (Meso-America, Egypt, Europe, Asia) as commanded by the privileged few who subjected the many to their needs… and others (North and Caribbean American and central Africa), built tipis and clay huts that housed the communities together and created kinship relationships that merged people, the land and nature. Life value was for the many, not just for the few. Huts were built for the many, not temples for the few.

The Taino people of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and the Diné of the American Southwest, called themselves the people, as did several Amerinds in the northern Amazon basin. The Dakota (Lakota) were allies, friends. They did not separate into aristocracy and peasantry, haves and have nots, privileged and bereft. They interacted together and forged connections that made them the people.

A small group of the Penan people of Borneo remain as hunter-gatherers with no sense of time, no salaries, no taxes, very little material possessions and no poverty. Their wealth lies in the strength of their relationships, their group solidarity signals the value of the community. Ties to place and people, the success of high social connections was linked to successful stewardship of the land for tens of thousands of years. When these bonds are broken, the health of all suffers.

"The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen

or touched, they are felt with the heart."

(recurrent theme…..Le Petit Prince…)

and all works on love and wisdom and life

Figure 1. Socially connected at a beach in Kefalonia, Greece.

These friends and relatives took their time and traveled thousands of miles from different localities to meet for this event, as commemorated in this photo. Being and staying connected with a positive attitude, kindness, good intentions and deep friendships serve to build and maintain good mental and physical health.

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." Le Petit Prince

Happy right here, right now as all that matters will be successful. Being genuinely glad to see a friend as well as a stranger, and happy to participate and help out with genuine enthusiasm, contributes to a healthy social life.

You gotta understand the difference between someone who speaks to you on their free time and someone who frees their time up to speak to you. Awesome Quotes Eva

"Anyone can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very special nature to sympathize (applaud & support) with a friend’s success." Oscar Wilde, poet

Health & Well-Being

as related to and a consequence of social behavior

"Good health is not just the absence of disease.

It refers to wellness and well-being." Andrew Weil, MD, pioneer in the discipline of Integrative Medicine

Health is not only the absence of disease, but the condition of being sound in body, mind and spirit. It depends on and is related to genetics and environment (level of nutrition, activity, toxin avoidance, mental stimulation, stress control, and social connection) as well as economic status, education level, and access to health care. Unfortunately, the influence of the latter three is often overlooked. All organisms strive for good health to produce a high quality (well-being) and quantity (longevity) of life.

Well-being is the state of being happy, healthy and secure. (Merriam Webster dictionary) In all studies on longevity, diet and exercise are assumed factors, then stress reduction, avoidance of toxins is followed by a social life of good friends, good marriage and family support as essential to Good Health. The premise of this book is simple. Being sociable is good and being antisocial is detrimental to your health. Social connections are essential to maintaining one’s body and mind in good functioning order. Having the support of friends and family in your life can help you stay healthy. This support usually comes in the form of love, trust and availability of time spent with others deemed essential to human function, i.e. whomever you ascribe the importance of influence and advice, be it real strong friends and trusted family, church associates, clergy, like-minded colleagues, counselors, or support groups. All contribute to initiation and maintenance of human dignity, which is a necessity, like air, water and nutrients for the body and energy in the form of belonging, meaning and purpose, both of which contribute to well-being. Achieving this state, explicitly and implicitly involves other people.

The achievement and maintenance of Good Health can be reached by using the basic strategies to a viable lifestyle. Perhaps the most important factor is stress control, reducing the chronic release of harmful hormones. Adequate Exercise, avoidance of Toxins and fresh organic Diet will help maintain the body, while effective Mental stimulation and consistent Social Connections are essential factors for the mind and spirit.

(Natural Health and Disease Prevention, 2016)

The key to good health and longevity is a strong functional Immune System for reduced disease susceptibility and DNA repair… strong Social connections contribute to a healthy immune system.

Studies & Statistics

in social connections and your health.

Blue Zones, by Dan Buettner, lists five regions that excel in longevity and are related to basic lifestyle choices for good health: nutrition, physical activity, stress control, safe environment, and social connectivity. Here people live longer and with better quality of life by living correctly. A major feature of the blue zones is the social circles that support healthy and productive behavior. In Moats, Okinawa, Japan, there are groups of five friends, all committed to each other for life. Loma Linda, California features a faith-based social connectivity. Nicoya peninsula, Costa Rica and Ogliastra region in Sardinia specialize in fresh nutrition and exercise. Ikaria island, Greece, excels in all six basic strategies. The blue zones have these and much more in common. Investing time and love into children as well as quality care and respect for elders and life partners greatly enhance the community lifestyle. Other similarities include a plant-based diet, routine physical activity, high interactive social life, adequate mental stimulation, low toxin exposure, and low stress levels. All share a strong sense of purpose, multiple circles of healthy friends, warm comfortable climate, walkable environment, clean water, high use of herbals, olive oil and red wine resulting in low dementia and high longevity.

The Roseto Effect is a 50-year study of heart disease which concluded that physical activity, plant-based diet (high carbs and low meats), * social solidarity (no loneliness, no stress of exclusion) in an Italian - American community, access to, ability to pay for and attitude towards health care, maintaining healthy habits, weight control, regular check-ups and access to medications, S through sharing of worries and concerns, like minded friends, puzzles, meditation workshops, and volunteering, all contribute to good health and well-being.

(Am J Public Health, 1992 August;82(8):1089-92)

Study: In the Social Connections and Immune System, those individuals with six (6) or more relationships were happier, healthier and four times less likely to catch a cold than those with three (3) or less. The study concluded that social isolation is a significant health risk factor similar in scope and outcomes as smoking, hypertension, obesity, or sedentary lifestyle.

(Cohen, Doyle, Skoner, Rabin & Gwaltney 1997)

The Framingham Heart Study’s healthy effects of socializing showed that both social isolation and perception of social isolation (loneliness) are correlated with a higher risk of mortality and that both are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Lonely individuals have increased peripheral vascular resistance and high blood pressure. Chronic social stress is associated with activation of the Sympathetic Nervous System and the Hypothalamus Pituitary Axis resulting in selective expansion of proinflammation monocytes and glucocorticoid resistance.

Being connected is good for the heart. (Loneliliness, Social Isolation, and Cardiovascular Health, Antioxidant Redox Signal, 2018 Mar 20:28(9):837-861. Ning Xia and Huige Li.

Statistics