Good morning.
We are used to seeing the Surgeon General of the United States take on tough public health challenges like cigarette smoking or opioid abuse. But Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy, now on his second tour in the job, has chosen a less orthodox target: loneliness. Speaking at Fortune Brainstorm Health yesterday, he had this to say:
“It turns out loneliness is a public health issue. And I would say it has risen to the level of being a public health crisis. It’s an experience that we all have from time to time, but when it’s persistent, or when it’s extreme, it can actually come with significant health risks. We all know that loneliness is associated with increased risk of anxiety and depression and suicide, but it’s also associated with an increased risk of heart disease and premature death, as well as dementia. And when you actually look at the risk of premature death related to loneliness, it’s comparable to the increased risk of premature death due to smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and it is greater than the risk associated with obesity…And it’s extraordinarily common. Around one in two Americans are experiencing loneliness.”
