Men who have a large number of friends, relatives and other social ties may live a longer, healthier life than their socially isolated peers.

Staying healthy and living longer is not simply a matter of practicing good health habits or getting good medical care. A good friend can help keep the doctor away.

Harvard researchers investigated the effect of social ties, death and heart disease, in a 10-year follow-up study of nearly 30,000 male health professionals. Roughly half of the men reported belonging to large social networks that included a spouse, a large number of friends or relatives, and/or community group involvement.

Men who were more socially isolated, however, were nearly 20% more likely to die from any cause than their more socially integrated peers, the investigators found. Socially isolated men were also 53% more likely to die from a heart-related cause than those who reported the highest number of social ties. Further, those with a moderately low number of social connections had a more than twofold greater risk of death from accidents and suicides than did their peers with the most social ties.

Overall, married men reportedly had a lower risk of death from any cause and a greater than twofold reduced risk of death from accidents and suicides than their unmarried peers. In addition, men who attended at least one religious service per year and those who spent at least 11 hours per week participating in some type of social group also seemed to be protected against all causes of death.

Social isolation is a 'risk factor' for ill health that deserves as much attention as other risk factors for cardiovascular disease and other ailments.

American Journal of Epidemiology April 15, 2002;155:700-709