2:29:25 COVID booster number nine. I think it's number nine, number nine, number nine is in play. Number nine. And, uh, and still with everything we know, all the models, all we know about, you know, climate change, all the things we know about COVID, um, just so much incredible science that has been done in the past four years. We still can't figure out these strokes and heart attacks. It's, It's baffling everybody, but we have a new theory. Dr. Gupta, always good to see you. So talk to us about what this study found in terms of loneliness and how it can actually lead to an increased risk of stroke. Loneliness. How is that possible? You know what we're saying, I mean this is surprising to all of us because... Wait, hold on. Let's stop and just think about this before you continue this clip.
2:30:11 So instead of hypertension or getting worked up or getting mad and angry because you got a mate there that messes up the place or who knows what or you're in with a bunch of people that are idiots and you have to scream at them, which could just blow a blood vessel. You're by yourself with low blood pressure, semi-depressed, you're just sitting around, maybe watching television, and boom, there goes your stroke. Is that what causes strokes? Loneliness? This seems to be the issue at hand. To all of us, because there's always thought to be a causal link. Well, gosh, if somebody's lonely, maybe they're stressed and then they might have high blood pressure and that could predispose to stroke. That's the opposite of what you said. If they're lonely, they have high blood pressure and they're stressed. Go for all of that. And now what we're going to really look for is does loneliness actually cause inflammation in the body?
2:31:02 Inflammation. Wow. And is that what we think might be causing this increase in stroke? So there's a direct link, that's what we're saying here, between loneliness, chronic loneliness, and the incidence of stroke. So there's a direct causal link, although I thought that wasn't allowed in science. I like, it's not, in fact, it's not, but I like the causal, the way he said it. Causal. Well, let's- A causal link. Now, let's, Let's pay attention here because you can diagnose chronic loneliness and I want to make sure that we're not... Can you do it with AI? I hope we're not suffering from it. When you say inflammation, do you mean sort of the causal direction is loneliness causes inflammation or inflammation causes loneliness? Causal, word again. The first one, so loneliness. What is causal? Causal means it's causing it or is it just... I guess so and it's also chronic. What's chronic?
2:31:55 But chronic is a term used in diseases and analysis, so you now chronic loneliness is like chronic hangnails or chronic body odor. I'm not getting the use they're mixing up these phrases and terms to get you freaked out. The first one, so loneliness causes maybe some degree of stress but that's actually manifesting in the body more than inflammation. Interesting, physically. Actually, physically. And that's the hypothesis to explain these findings. That's really interesting. And I guess my next question would be when... Oh, that's interesting. Let me look at the script. I guess my next question would be roll the prompter. Okay, yes. That's really interesting. And I guess my next question would be when do you sort of actually decide to diagnose loneliness and consider it chronic? It's so tough because there's actually no formal clinical criteria. So it's in some ways similar to how we diagnose depression. Are they disconnected from, is somebody disconnected from their community? Are they not really engaging with friends or loved ones? Do they never leave their home?
2:32:51 There's this gut sense of, okay, this person is lonely versus not just based on how we diagnose depression, but especially for those that are older. John, I'm concerned about you. If you never leave the house, especially if you're older, this is very concerning. Yeah, I think you should be concerned. You could keel over at any minute. I could keel over like Biden. Last clip. Is loneliness linked to any other chronic health conditions? I mean, the surgeon general saying that it's like smoking 15 cigarettes a day. What? Whoa. I'm so lonely. If you smoked 15 cigarettes a day to be jacked up it seems to me. I'm so lonely. To any other chronic health conditions, I mean the Surgeon General is saying that it's like smoking 15 cigarettes a day. He's right and that's exactly what we're seeing, Vicki. We're seeing this concerning trend where there's a direct causal link between loneliness and heart attacks.
2:33:45 Even pneumonia, the lung doctor, you're saying, well, gosh, somebody is more predisposed to pneumonia if they're lonely. And so there is that link here that somehow being socially isolated, it shouldn't surprise us, is actually having real physical impacts to the body. Oh my God. I mean, the only thing I can see here is like get people on antidepressants because they're lonely, because that'll make you social. That'll do it. I mean, it's, This is, you know what, the Surgeon General should come out and say watching M5M media is bad for your health. We are in fact performing a public service here by warning people, do not listen to this nonsense or only listen to it under strict supervision of your favorite podcasters. Yeah, I'd say that's probably good advice. Seriously.