What if the key to longevity was having a smaller circle of friends? In any case, that’s what advise the researchers from the Animal Behavior Research Center at the University of Exeter in Britain, who discovered that our closest primate relatives are less likely to get sick when they limit their social interactions.
“The benefits of social living are well established, but it also has costs, including the risk of infectious diseases. This cost-benefit ratio of sociality is expected to change throughout individuals’ lives, leading to changes in social behavior with age” explain the researchers.
This limits the risk of infection
For this study, British researchers analyzed a group of adult female rhesus macaques to better understand the relationship between aging, sociability and disease and determine whether having fewer social relationships decreased the risk of infection, particularly when we have less immune defenses due to age. They discovered that older macaques who had limited social interactions reduced their risk of catching an infectious disease within the group.
“Immunity is weakened in older people, increasing the risk of contracting an infectious disease. Yet the macaque study found that older macaques had lower infection rates than their older counterparts. young people” note the authors of the study.
This observation, however, has its limits because having fewer social relationships as you age also increases the risk of suffering from anxiety disorders. Seniors who increase their social relationships have better morale and half the risk of depression than those who only receive phone calls or emails, highlighted a previous study.
Source: www.topsante.com
