HealthDay News recently reported on a study showing that psychosocial factors such as loneliness and depression "have the potential to significantly impact gastrointestinal health" says Dr. Shirley Cohen-Mekelburg. Mekelburg specializes in problems like inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis at University of Michigan Medicine.
From a group of more than 7,000 participants, the team identified 56% of individuals with a digestive disease and 44% without one. Overall, about 60% and 56% of respondents with and without digestive diseases, respectively, reported loneliness. About 13% and 8% reported severe depression. Finally, roughly 9% in both groups reported social isolation. You can review a summary of the reporting from HealthDay News here.
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