Good friends = great medicine? Research says, "Yes!"

There has been a lot of research within the past decade or so looking at social ties and how it affects one's life. Having worked with a professor back in college who studied social relationships and health lead to learning about and participating in lots of studies on this topic. For example, did you know that studies have actually shown that happily married couples (as opposed to single, divorced/separated, or even especially unhappily married couples) tend to live longer? Well, it's true!

So when my professor from college posted this article* up on facebook, my first thought was, "Well, duh." But at the same time, the article is extremely interesting. It points out that people who have good/close friends not only live longer, but have a 50% better chance of survival, regardless of age, sex, health, etc, than those who don't have those close social ties. Even more interesting is that having poor or few social connections is like smoking several cigarettes a day, and is even worse than being obese and not exercising!

And do relatives count? Not really. Friends apparently tend to affect the longevity of your life better than your relatives or even your own children.

Moral of the story? Get out and make some new friends!

* http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/research-suggests-that-good-friends-may-actually-be-great-medicine/2011/03/07/ABMbvwV_story.html