Lonely and single middle-aged men are at an increased risk of developing cancer than those in a relationship and with people around them, according to a new study.
新研究发现,孤独的单身中年男人比有伴的中年男人患癌风险更高。
A team from the University of Eastern Finland worked with 2,570 middle-aged men, monitoring their health and mortality from the 1980s to the present day.
东芬兰大学的研究团队调查了2570名中年男性,从20世纪80年代开始就一直监测他们的健康状况和死亡率。
Over the course of the study 25% of participants had developed cancer, with 11% of the Finnish men involved dying from the condition.
在研究期间,25%的参与者患上了癌症,其中有11%的芬兰男性死于癌症。
There was a 'clear link' between loneliness and an increased risk of cancer, the team explained, with being lonely increasing the risk of cancer by about ten percent.
研究团队解释道,孤独和患癌风险增加之间有“明显关联”,孤独可导致患癌风险增加约10%。
Globally, cancer is the second leading cause of death. Loneliness has been suggested as a risk factor for cancer mortality. However, connections between loneliness, social isolation, and cancer are poorly understood.
从全球来看,癌症是人类的第二大死因。目前已经发现,孤独是导致患癌死亡的一个风险因素,但是人们对孤独、社交隔绝和癌症三者之间的联系知之甚少。
Recent studies have suggested that loneliness could be as significant a health risk as smoking or being overweight, according to the researchers.
近期的研究显示,孤独对健康的危害可能和吸烟、肥胖一样大。
'Our findings support the idea that attention should be paid to this issue,' said project Researcher Siiri-Liisi Kraav from the University of Eastern Finland.
东芬兰大学的项目研究员西瑞-里西·卡拉夫说道:“我们的发现证实,这一问题应该得到重视。”
In addition, cancer mortality was higher in cancer patients who were unmarried, widowed or divorced at baseline.
此外,未婚、丧偶或中年离婚的癌症患者死亡率更高。
'Awareness of the health effects of loneliness is constantly increasing. Therefore, it is important to examine, in more detail, the mechanisms by which loneliness causes adverse health effects,' the authors wrote.
作者写道:“孤独对健康的影响越来越受到重视。因此,有必要更详细地研究孤独导致负面健康影响的机制。”
'This information would enable us to better alleviate loneliness and the harm caused by it, as well as to find optimal ways to target preventive measures.'
“这一信息将让我们能够更好地缓解孤独和由此造成的危害,也有助于找到最理想的预防措施。”