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Sharecare Names America’s Top 10 Cities with the Strongest Social Ties

Group of friends giving piggy-back rides

Be Grateful for Family & Friends this Thanksgiving Strong Social Networks Add Almost 3 Years to Your RealAge

(ATLANTA, November 20, 2013) – This Thanksgiving, here’s another reason to give thanks for those around your table: A strong social network of friends and family is actually good for your health. That’s why Sharecare, the online health and wellness social engagement platform founded by Jeff Arnold and Dr. Mehmet Oz, MD, factors a strong social network into its RealAge® Test, the scientifically based assessment that measures the true age of your body. According to a sample of 250,000 RealAge Test respondents, Sharecare is revealing today the Top 10 Cities with the Strongest Social Ties:

  1. New Orleans, LA
  2. Louisville, KY
  3. Knoxville, TN
  4. Indianapolis, IN
  5. Greenville, SC
  6. Memphis, TN
  7. Charlotte, NC
  8. Nashville, TN
  9. Oklahoma City, OK
  10. Columbus, OH

Having a strong social network of friends and family doesn’t just make you feel better. It can make your RealAge younger by almost 3 years, according to Keith Roach, MD, chief medical officer of Sharecare and co-creator of its RealAge® Test. Studies show that connections can protect you – and your social circle – from high blood pressure, stress, inflammation and memory loss. “Friends and family are a way of mediating the stress of our lives. Small talk isn’t very helpful though. It’s really about those close friends and family you can call upon when things are bothering you,” says Dr. Roach.

Sharecare is also revealing the 10 Worst Cities for Strong Social Ties:

  1. San Francisco, CA
  2. Sacramento, CA
  3. Phoenix, AZ
  4. Los Angeles, CA
  5. Seattle, WA
  6. Austin, TX
  7. Minneapolis, MN
  8. Las Vegas, NV
  9. Houston, TX
  10. San Diego, CA

To find out your body’s true age, join Sharecare – membership is free – and take the RealAge Test at www.sharecare.com/realagetest.

About the Great American Smokeout

The American Cancer Society marks the Great American Smokeout on the third Thursday of November each year by encouraging smokers to use the date to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day. By quitting — even for one day — smokers will be taking an important step towards a healthier life – one that can lead to reducing cancer risk.

About Sharecare

Sharecare is a health and wellness social engagement platform that helps people to live healthier lives by connecting them to personalized resources including high-quality information from national experts, interactive tools and local healthcare providers. The power behind the site is its groundbreaking and popular, scientifically-based health risk assessment, the RealAge® Test, taken by more than 30 million people since its inception in 1998, and a unique, social Q&A format that provides the collective wisdom of America’s top experts—greatly simplifying the search for health information. Created by Jeff Arnold and Dr. Mehmet Oz in partnership with Harpo Productions, Sony Pictures Television and Discovery Communications, Sharecare allows people to ask, learn and act upon questions of health and wellness, creating an active community where knowledge is shared and put into practice—simply said, sharing care. Launched in 2010, Sharecare is based in Atlanta, GA.

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