Does having a gun increase the risk of gun-related deaths?

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Leanne Jenkins----A young woman writes: “My name is Carlee Soto. Last year, my sister Vicki was murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary where she was a teacher. Learning that she had been killed was the worst moment of my life, and my family still deals with the pain every day.”

With this statement in an email sent to individuals in the press and to those interested in gun laws and gun rights legislation,  Soto underlines the issue of guns in a personal way. And research substantiates the need to examine closely the problem of gun ownership in the United States, as it has been found that those states with higher rates of gun ownership also have higher rates of gun-related deaths.  Soto is asking for donations to help the cause of reducing gun violence.

And like many people who have lost families to gun violence, Soto wants to make a difference, as she goes on to say, “This summer, I joined the No More Names bus tour at several stops across the country to share my family's story and hopefully change some minds. I want to do whatever I can to make sure other families are never put through the heartbreak that so many of us, including my family, have felt. 

Vicki died trying to save the children she taught -- and I'm taking her example of courage to Washington. I'm going to look members of Congress directly in the eye and demand better laws that will save lives.”

The American Journal of Public Health reports a study that examined gun ownership experience using data from 1981 to 2010 and found the level of gun ownership increased homicide rates related to guns.

Researchers say, “Understanding the relationship between the prevalence of gun ownership and therefore the availability of guns and firearm-related mortality is critical to guiding decisions regarding recently proposed measures to address firearm violence,” the authors conclude.

Despite this type of evidence, those conservatives who believe in increasing gun ownership continue to maintain that having a gun reduces one's chances of being shot by a gun.

Social isolation may predict mortality as accurately as smoking

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Carol Forsloff----If you are among those who shrink from social interaction or you live in a remote area where you don't see other people much, research says that can be as bad, or even worse, for your health than smoking.  

 In fact social isolation is a predictor of mortality, as much or more than other factors like smoking, obesity or high cholesterol.

New research from the American Journal of Public Health reports the findings of researchers who analyzed social isolation by reviewing marital or partnership status, frequency of contact with other people, participation in religious activities and participation in other club or organizational events. Those who don't participate with others have been found to have a higher likelihood of death than those who are interactive and social.

Infrequent religious activity, being unmarried and being socially isolated in general individually predicts mortality of both men and women.

The authors write, “Our findings highlight the value of isolation as a risk factor for mortality and emphasize the clinical importance of understanding a patient's social integration and support.

25% of men over age 75 live alone and nearly half of women 75 and older, many of them by choice, although seniors relate they do this as a way of being independent and because they don't want to be an imposition on children. It is this group that scientists maintain need to be given extra support during aging and that society should reach out to seniors who are isolated.