when was the last time you said hello to a stranger passing you on the street or a friend you hadn t seen in years? hi. hi. how you doing? hello. hello there. those are just a few of the stars who signed up to try to help battle america s epidemic of loneliness. it was started this week by myself and oprah. 60 million americans report feeling lonely. it s 1 in 5. you could be one of them and not even know it. it s not just in your head. it s an epidemic that affects your health in many ways. the bottom line says people with strong ties to family, friends or co-workers have a 50% greater chance of outliving those with fewer social
or is it also a medically diagnosable physical pain? well, it is a physical pain as well. what i mean by that, let me be precise, the areas of the brain that are responsible for physical pain, those are the same areas of the brain that will light up in someone who has chronic loneliness. they feel physical pain by all intents and purposes. so they are really suffering in that regard. but they also because of the increased inflammation, because of the suppressed immune system, they re more likely to die early and have all these different problems. you ve got this video campaign, just say hello. we ll have a look at it now. when was the last time you said hello to a stranger passing you on the street, to a friend you hadn t seen in years? hi. hi. how you doing? hello. oh, hello there. just imagining how most of my viewers would feel if oprah winfrey passed by hello .
that s how i feel on the set sometimes. so lonely. welcome back. a surprising epidemic affecting some 60 million americans. loneliness. dr. sanjay gupta has teamed up with o magazine. it s called the just say hello campaign. listen to this. when was the last time you said hello to a stranger passing you on the street or a friend you hadn t seen in years? hi. hi. how you doing? hello. oh, hello there. look at you. hey girl. looking good. thanks ellen. oh it s going to come back on me. thanks, ellen. dr. sanjay gupta, hello sanjay. let s start with that.
i like him doing that. it s like he s in the room. my son s in china and i skype with him quite often. it s very different than picking up the phone to be able to see face-to-face. piers this has happened to all of us. you re on an elevator with a group of people. we all are looking at our smart phones. you can be on the elevator with six different people and no one is communicating. one of the things i like that we did in the magazine, we give you different things. encourage you different ways to engage with people. so i tried this today at the hearst building. i said to the group in the elevator, do you guys want to hear an elevator joke? they were like, sure, go ahead. what did one elevator say to the other elevator? go on. i think i m coming down with something. see, isn t that good? well, it s terrible. poorest joke i ve ever heard. it s terrible that it s funny. if it makes you feel happy. it probably bonded the rest of the elevator. it did. gayle king s elevator
they don t sleep as well. is it just an emotional pain, or is it also a medically diagnosable physical pain? well, it is a physical pain as well. what i mean by that, let me be precise, the areas of the brain that are responsible for physical pain, those are the same areas of the brain that will light up in someone who has chronic loneliness. they feel physical pain by all intents and purposes. so they are really suffering in that regard. but they also because of the increased inflammation, because of the suppressed immune system, they re more likely to die early and have all these different problems. you ve got this video campaign, just say hello. we ll have a look at it now. when was the last time you said hello to a stranger passing you on the street, to a friend you hadn t seen in years? hi. friend you hadn t seen in years? hi. hi. how you doing? hello. oh, hello there. just imagining how most of my viewers would feel if oprah