HHS HealthBeat (September 20, 2012)

Mindfully less lonely

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Loneliness is a state of mind – and a small study indicates mindfulness meditation may do something about it in older people.

At Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, David Creswell studied 40 people ages 55 to 85. Half learned and practiced the techniques daily for eight weeks and spent one day in a retreat. Compared with the other 20, who didn’t, the meditators reported less loneliness:

“It really is a training program. You have to sort of train your mind, just like you train your biceps in the gym.”

Creswell says loneliness is a risk factor for health problems such as cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s in older people.

The study in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at healthfinder.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: September 20, 2012