Making connections is good for the heart, soul By MARY HENKE AND SUE GRIEP Heart of Hutch Connect Committee

Heart of Hutch believes that building stronger connections with the people in our community will help the residents of Hutchinson to be stronger and healthier overall. Dan Buettner’s book about the Blue Zones talks about how a strong social network can lead to people living fulfilling, healthy lives into their 90s and even 100s.

A Harvard Health newsletter offers information about how social isolation can lead to loneliness which goes on to effect our health. We’d like to share excerpts from that newsletter with you.

“Loneliness takes a toll on the heart; building a social network can strengthen it ... Since the mid-1990s, there has been growing interest in, and evidence about how loneliness and social connections affect health. Researchers have linked isolation with physical problems ranging from diminished immune system activity to shortened life span. A fair amount of this work has focused on the cardiovascular system ... Exactly how loneliness harms the circulatory system, or how good relationships nurture it, remains a mystery. The leading contender is that social disconnectedness somehow influences brain regions that calm the body or put it on high alert for danger. The resulting cascade of hormones can affect blood pressure, the flexibility of arteries, and inflammation, a key underlying cause of heart disease ...

“Devoting time and energy to relationships pays off at least as fully as taking care of high blood pressure or adopting a more healthful diet. People with rich social networks generally live longer, recover faster from heart attacks and other health setbacks, and have more joyful lives. Weaving yours a link at a time is good for you, and, if one of those links is with a lonely person, it’s good for him or her, too.”

— Heart of Hutch is a volunteer movement inspiring Hutchinson residents to live well.