Language: English
Welcome to EPG Patient Direct
The healthcare portal for patients and the general public in Europe
- Conditions and illnesses
- Managing your health
- Lifestyle advice
- Treatment choices
More News Health News
- Patients with diabetes experience slowdown of thought processes
Published Monday 05 January 2009 - Obese post-menopausal women at greater risk of ovarian cancer
Published Monday 05 January 2009 - Study looks at the costs associated with sleep disorders
Published Friday 02 January 2009 - Expert advises on a healthy diet for a healthy pocket
Published Wednesday 31 December 2008
Your Vote
Find Out More About
This service contains links to third party websites. EPG Patient Direct is not in a position to verify this information and cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the content contained.
More NewsEPG Patient Direct News
Loneliness linked with cold, scientists suggest
29 Sep 2008
Social isolation makes people feel physically cold, a new study has suggested.
Carried out by staff at the University of Toronto in Canada, the research is published in the journal Psychological Science.
The study saw 65 participants divided into two groups. One was asked to recall a personal experience in which they had been socially excluded and had felt lonely or isolated as a result.
Meanwhile, the other group thought of a time when they had been accepted.
All the participants were then asked to estimate the temperature of the room they were in.
Guesses ranged from 12 degrees C to 40 degrees C, the BBC notes.
Those who had thought of an isolation experience gave lower estimate of warmth.
Dr Chen-Bo Zhong, who led the study, said: "We found that the experience of social exclusion literally feels cold. This may be why people use temperature-related metaphors to describe social inclusion and exclusion."
It was suggested that raising temperature could help people feel better, in the same way light therapy aids those with Seasonal Affective Disorder.
More health news
Delicious
Reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Related News Stories (General Health News)
- Obese post-menopausal women at greater risk of ovarian cancer 05/01/09
- Expert advises on a healthy diet for a healthy pocket 31/12/08
- Family rejection of gay children linked to poor childhood health, says study 29/12/08
- New study looks at hormonal changes in migraine sufferers 23/12/08
- Study could lead to more effective oral treatment 22/12/08
- Expert calls for more human immunology testing 19/12/08
- Food study locates higher calories in restaurants than fast food 18/12/08
- Workshop calls for increased animal testing 17/12/08