Why loneliness is so bad for you

Loneliness can wreak havoc on our cells and increase our risk of heart disease, scientists warn.

A state of social isolation can affect the genes in our body by heightening our risk of inflammation and decreasing our immunity towards viral infection.

Humans are known to be social creatures. We crave companionship - to be surrounded by friends and share our personal experiences with others. It's in fact been a key to our survival.

But there is a trade-off. If companionship is necessary for survival, its opposite - seclusion - can be toxic.

Dr Steve Cole, a genetics researcher at the University of California Los Angeles who has been studying the impacts of loneliness on health, told Daily Mail Online: 'I had never appreciated before how deeply threatening loneliness can be to your physical and mental health.'

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