Now we know more about how this works. In a recent pair of studies, the more lonely people felt the more inflammation they experienced, when compared to less lonely people. Loneliness was associated with the activation of pro-inflammatory stress hormones:
In both groups, those who were lonelier produced significantly higher levels of a cytokine called interleukin-6, or IL-6, in response to acute stress, the researchers report. Levels of another cytokine, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, also rose more dramatically in lonelier participants than in less lonely participants, but the findings were significant by statistical standards in only one study group, the healthy adults, researchers add.These specific hormones are known to create a more favorable environment in the body for disease. This information is important in designing secondary prevention programs for serious diseases such as cancer, where the levels of inflammation promote cancer growth.
Loneliness Taxes the Immune System
New research has linked loneliness to a number of dysfunctional immune responses, suggesting that being lonely has the potential to harm overall health.
Researchers found that people who were more lonely showed signs of elevated latent herpes virus reactivation and produced more inflammation-related proteins in response to acute stress than people who felt more socially connected.
Chronic inflammation is linked to a number of dire health conditions, including coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as the frailty and functional decline that can accompany aging, researchers note.
“It is clear from previous research that poor-quality relationships are linked to a number of health problems, including premature mortality and all sorts of other very serious health conditions — and people who are lonely clearly feel like they are in poor-quality relationships,” said Lisa Jaremka, a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research at Ohio State University and lead author of the research.
“One reason this type of research is important is to understand how loneliness and relationships broadly affect health,” she continued. “The more we understand about the process, the more potential there is to counter those negative effects — to perhaps intervene. If we don’t know the physiological processes, what are we going to do to change them?”
The researchers, who conducted a series of experiments on a group of 200 breast cancer survivors and a group of 134 overweight middle-aged and older adults with no major health problems, measured loneliness using the UCLA Loneliness Scale, a questionnaire that assesses perceptions of social isolation and loneliness.
The researchers then analyzed the blood of the breast cancer survivors — who were between two months and three years past completion of cancer treatment with an average age of 51 — for the presence of antibodies against Epstein-Barr virus and cytomegalovirus.
Both are herpes viruses that infect a majority of Americans, the researchers said. About half of infections do not produce illness, but once a person is infected, the viruses remain dormant in the body and can be reactivated, resulting in elevated antibody levels, the researchers noted. While the reactivated virus produces no symptoms, they hint at problems in the cellular immune system, the researchers explained.
The researchers found that lonelier participants had higher levels of antibodies against cytomegalovirus than less lonely participants. Higher antibody levels were also related to more pain, depression and fatigue symptoms.
No difference was seen in Epstein-Barr virus antibody levels, possibly because this reactivation is linked to age and many of these participants were somewhat older, meaning reactivation related to loneliness would be difficult to detect, Jaremka said.
“The same processes involved in stress and reactivation of these viruses is probably also relevant to the loneliness findings,” Jaremka said. “Loneliness has been thought of in many ways as a chronic stressor — a socially painful situation that can last for quite a long time.”
The researchers also sought to determine how loneliness affected the production of proinflammatory proteins, or cytokines, in response to stress. These studies were conducted with 144 women from the same group of breast cancer survivors and the group of overweight middle-aged and older adults with no major health problems.
Baseline blood samples were taken from all participants, who were then subjected to stress by being asked to deliver an impromptu five-minute speech and perform a mental arithmetic task in front of a video camera and three panelists. Researchers then stimulated their immune systems with lipopolysaccharide, a compound found on bacterial cell walls that is known to trigger an immune response.
In both groups, those who were lonelier produced significantly higher levels of a cytokine called interleukin-6, or IL-6, in response to acute stress, the researchers report. Levels of another cytokine, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, also rose more dramatically in lonelier participants than in less lonely participants, but the findings were significant by statistical standards in only one study group, the healthy adults, researchers add.
In the study with breast cancer survivors, researchers said they also tested for levels of the cytokine interleukin 1-beta, which was produced at higher levels in lonelier participants.
When the scientists controlled for a number of factors, including sleep quality, age and general health measures, the results were the same, they reported.
“We saw consistency in the sense that more lonely people in both studies had more inflammation than less lonely people,” Jaremka said. “It’s also important to remember the flip side, which is that people who feel very socially connected are experiencing more positive outcomes.”
Source: Ohio State University
Lonely woman thinking photo by shutterstock.
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