Restless Sleep? Loneliness May Be to Blame

Feeling isolated and disconnected from the people around you may keep you from getting a good night's sleep, even if you're not aware of it, a small new study suggests.

People who feel lonely tend to experience more nighttime restlessness and disruptions than their better-adjusted peers, the study found, which may partly explain why loneliness has been associated with health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and depression, says lead researcher Lianne Kurina, PhD, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Chicago.

"In lab experiments, when people are intentionally woken up repeatedly, it seems to have effects on [their] metabolism," she says. "Their insulin sensitivity goes down, almost suggesting that poor sleep could put them at higher risk of type 2 diabetes, for example."

In the new study, published in this month's journal Sleep, the link between loneliness and sleep disruptions ........read more