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Loneliness has been considered a major health risk for seniors, but a new study suggests younger adults might fare even worse from living by themselves. Living alone appears to increase a person's risk of death from a multitude of causes, particularly among adults 18 to 64, researchers reported in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

A solitary life increased overall risk of death by 22% for people 18 to 64, compared with 6% among seniors 65 and older, the study team found. Younger and middle-aged adults living alone faced the highest death risk from suicide, heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer and injuries, results showed.

Meanwhile, seniors living alone faced a higher risk of death from suicide, high blood pressure, injuries and heart disease.

However, researchers argued that living alone wasn't necessarily the direct cause of these higher odds of death. Rather, it's that people who live alone tend to fall into unhealthy habits.

"Living alone is not necessarily harmful or a suboptimal living arrangement," said lead researcher Hyunjung Lee, principal scientist of cancer disparity research at the American Cancer Society.

"However, our findings indicate that excess deaths among adults living alone compared to living with others are largely concentrated among individuals with existing health conditions and high-risk health exposures," Lee said in a news release.

1 million) in 2023, researchers said in background notes.

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