The Guardian reports today that a longitudinal study in Britain shows that loneliness is deadly. Interestingly, it is twice as deadly as obesity. More than two-thousand people aged fifty and over were tracked for six years. And the study found that the loneliest were nearly twice as likely to die during the six-year study than the least lonely. The findings point to a coming crisis as the British population ages and people increasingly live alone or far from their families. Apoptosis immediately crossed my mind upon reading the article (“Apoptosis,” January 9, 2002). The term applies to a string of self-destruct routines preprogrammed into nearly every living cell. These routines are triggered when the cell receives the signal that the community of cells surrounding it needs it no longer. Both animal and human studies have come up with similar findings. Returning to the elderly, the latest finding has to do not only with them, but also the community in which they live. Capitalism atomizes society. And atomization kills off the elderly, whose maintenance is nothing but a cost. Considering the babyboomers, who are now retiring in ever-larger numbers, the cost cannot but grow for a couple of decades. To wit, the study offers loads of good news to the bosses of this world. Loneliness is deadly? Hooray!