* Friends 'help people live longer' *

* Friends 'help people live longer' *

Good friends promise to be there for you, and their presence can help
you live longer, researchers say.

Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/health/4094632.stm

[excerpt]

Good friends promise to be there for you, and their presence can
actually help you live longer, researchers say.

Australian scientists said having friends around in old age can do
more for life expectancy than having family members around.

The team looked at how a range of social, health and lifestyle
factors affected the survival rates of more than 1,500 people over 70.

The research is in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

It goes to show that we really do benefit from chatting and
feeling valued among friends
Dr Lorna Layward, Help the Aged

The team took data from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging
(ALSA), which began in 1992 in Adelaide, South Australia.

As part of the study, people were asked how much personal and phone
contact they had with their various social networks, including
children, relatives, friends and confidants.

The team then looked at each participant's survival rates over the
following decade, checking them after four years, and then at around
three yearly intervals.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
Help the Aged
http://www.helptheaged.org.uk/default.htm
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
http://jech.bmjjournals.com/
Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging
http://www.cas.flinders.edu.au/sanra/research/proj0020.html