A lifetime of social ties adds up to healthy aging (Cornell)

#1

The cumulative effect of social advantages across a lifetime – from parental warmth in childhood to friendship, community engagement and religious support in adulthood – may slow the biological processes of aging itself. These social advantages appear to set back “epigenetic clocks” such that a person’s biological age, as measured by analyzing DNA methylation patterns, is younger than their chronological age.

The research, which appeared in the October issue of the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity - Health, drew on data from more than 2,100 adults in the long-running Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study.

First author Anthony Ong, psychology professor and director of the Human Health Labs in the College of Human Ecology, and fellow researchers found that people with higher levels of what they called “cumulative social advantage” showed slower epigenetic aging and lower levels of chronic inflammation.

“This paper builds on a foundational study we published last year showing how cumulative social advantage relates to positive health outcomes,” Ong said. “This new study digs deeper into the same data to understand the biological mechanisms - essentially, how social connections get under our skin to affect aging at the molecular level.”

The study focused on so-called epigenetic clocks, molecular signatures that estimate the pace of biological aging. Two in particular – GrimAge and DunedinPACE – are considered especially predictive of morbidity and mortality. Adults with stronger, more sustained social networks showed significantly younger profiles on both clocks.

“Cumulative social advantage is really about the depth and breadth of your social connections over a lifetime,” Ong said. “We looked at four key areas: the warmth and support you received from your parents growing up, how connected you feel to your community and neighborhood, your involvement in religious or faith-based communities, and the ongoing emotional support from friends and family.”

Research Paper (open access):

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666354625001541

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Starting longevity in childhood: what do/would you do with your kids?
#2

I wonder if things like this forum count as social connection?

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#3

Probably to some small extent if you feel a connection to others when they respond to your posts in a kindly manner.

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#4

I would say that this forum will turn out to have added many years to my life. But, there are two things ambiguously lumped together in that:

  1. the social benefits of community here
  2. the information (or generalising to other social interactions; sharing of resources other than information more widely)

I think it’s the second of these (for instance combining Rapamycin with Arcabose) that’s likely doing most of the work. (Even though I love you all dearly :blush::teddy_bear:).

Likewise, with each of these “social engagements” I wonder to what extent the longevity benefits are generated through this psycho-social pathway or actually through a more “traditional” resource / biological pathway. I don’t know the answer

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#5

I believe online relationships count towards social connections. We are engaging with each other’s comments and ideas.

Different from the post and ghost aspect of social media.