article_snippet.sent: Health experts have warned that being socially isolated can be as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, leading to an increased risk of problems such as dementia and high blood pressure.
article_snippet.sent: lonely people looked for areas with large numbers of over-65s, people living alone, people suffering from mental illness, households with no car and people on a low income.
article_snippet.sent: Danger: Being lonely can lead to health problems including dementia (picture posed by model)
article_snippet.sent: residents then combined all those factors to map the districts where people are most likely to be suffering from loneliness, with the most vulnerable areas marked in red.
article_snippet.sent: The Campaign to End Loneliness's director Laura Alcock-Ferguson said: 'Finding people who are experiencing loneliness can be challenging, as people who are experiencing loneliness are often also some of the most hidden people in our communities. '
article_snippet.sent: However, it is encouraging that, across the country, there are excellent examples of councils that are employing different strategies to identify residents most at risk of loneliness. '
article_snippet.sent: If local councils and services do not act now to find the people experiencing severe loneliness, we are likely to see the consequences in our hospitals and social care services.'
article_snippet.sent: The report identifies a number of other risk factors that might make people more likely to suffer from chronic loneliness.
article_snippet.sent: People from ethnic minorities, those recently bereaved or forced to care for their loved ones and childless pensioners are particularly susceptible.