Social determinates of health
By Peg Gehring
Our society has changed since 2020.
Many are suffering from loneliness. As a world population, we were
asked to isolate ourselves for the last two years socially. This idea is called social determinates of health, and it has a significant impact on our health. Studies show that social isolation has as significant an impact on our health as smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity. Social isolation is associated with a 50% increase in dementia. It can increase the risk of heart disease by 29% and stroke by 32%. Heart failure patients increase the risk of death by four times, hospitalizations by 68%, and emergency visits by 57%. Tracking how loneliness increases the incidence of depression, anxiety, and suicide is more complex but well known. https://www.cdc.gov/aging/publications/features/lonely-older-adults.html#:~:text=Loneliness%20is%20the%20feeling%20of,lonely%20without%20being%20socially%20isolated The prophet Isiah offered cure thousands of years ago: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set liberty them that are captive” Isiah 61:1. Man has known for centuries that cure for many ills is God. Not the good fairy god or the flying meatball god. But the loving God and creator of the universe God. In this God “we live and move and have our being” Act 17:28. Half of my day is spent seeing patients who are not as ill as lonely, overwhelmed, and missing something in their lives. As related to the data above, this is true. On April 17, 2022, we celebrate Easter, the most critical part of any Christian faith. ”For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so the everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” I invite everyone to celebrate this Easter Sunday in Community with their faith. Not at home or with nature but in Community with other people. It’s the best thing you can do for your health and the health of your family and friends.
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