Living alone 'increases risk of dying from alcohol'

We all like to have our own space but apparently living alone could be putting your health at risk.

A Finnish study found two-thirds of people who died from an alcohol-related disease or accident were living alone.

Researchers said this suggested a lack of social relationships should be regarded as a potential risk factor for death from alcohol related causes. 

They added that living alone was a very modern phenomenon that had weakened social relationships, with fewer people getting married or living in extended families.

The team, led by Kimmo Herttua from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, in Helsinki, analysed information from the 18,200 people who died as a result of alcohol between 2000 and 2007.

Causes of death included liver disease alcohol poisoning and accidents, as well as violence that involved alcohol.

The results revealed between 2000 and 2003 men who lived alone were 3.7 times more likely to die of liver disease compared to married or cohabiting men.

Between 2004 and 2007, this disparity had increased to five times the risk.

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Women living alone were also at increased risk from alcohol-related deaths although the risk was smaller.

In Finland in 2004 the price of alcohol had dropped, suggesting that solitary men  were particularly vulnerable to the increased availability of alcohol.

Writing in PLoS Medicine, the team concluded: 'Living alone is associated with a substantially increased risk of alcohol-related mortality, irrespective of gender, socioeconomic status, or the specific cause of death.'

They added that further research was needed in other countries with different drinking cultures to confirm a general association.