<description>&lt;p&gt;Many people around the world feel lonely. Chronic loneliness is known to have far-reaching health effects and has been linked to multiple conditions and even early death.&amp;nbsp;But the mechanisms through which feeling alone can lead to poor health is a puzzle. Now,&amp;nbsp;researchers are looking at neurons in the hopes that they&amp;nbsp;may help explain why health issues arise when social needs go unmet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is an audio version of our Feature &lt;a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00900-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Why loneliness is bad for your health&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

New research is revealing the mechanisms linking loneliness and conditions like dementia, depression and cardiovascular disease.

Many people around the world feel lonely. Chronic loneliness is known to have far-reaching health effects and has been linked to multiple conditions and even early death.&nbsp;But the mechanisms through which feeling alone can lead to poor health is a puzzle. Now,&nbsp;researchers are looking at neurons in the hopes that they&nbsp;may help explain why health issues arise when social needs go unmet. This is an audio version of our Feature <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00900-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Why loneliness is bad for your health</a> <hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Nature Podcast

Audio long read: Why loneliness is bad for your health

Audio long read: Why loneliness is bad for your health

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