Loneliness Impacts How Genes and Immune System Respond, Study Finds

Lonely individuals get sick more often. At least this is what the pattern of gene expressions in people who experience chronically high levels of loneliness found by UCLA researchers seems to indicate. Previous research had linked how an individual's social environment affected his or her health, but this study, published in the Sept. 13 issue of Genome Biology, provides the first molecular framework and biological explanation for why.

Loneliness affects your genes

"What this study shows is that the biological impact of social isolation reaches down into some of our most basic internal processes: the activity of our genes." said the study's lead author Steve Cole, PhD., M.D., in a press release about the study. "We found that changes in immune cell gene expression were specifically linked to the subjective experience of social distance."

In layman's terms, the study suggests that an individual's feeling of social isolation directly influences his or her immune system, specifically the genes that drive inflammation. The observed findings were independent of other known risk factors, such as health status, age, weight, and medication use.

Big picture

Previous research confirms the long-term impact of loneliness on cardiac health, blood pressure, and viral diseases. The biomarker mapping provided by this study reveals that loneliness impacts immediate health as well, and that individuals who feel down in the dumps and that they are always sick, probably are as their body's ability to fight illness may be compromised.

Unfortunately, poor health and loneliness can be a self-perpetuating cycle. Sick individuals stay at home, or isolate themselves, which in turn makes them lonely. This study adds to the pre-existing literature about how social environmental influences impact health.

The findings indicate that the biological impact of loneliness is as great of a factor on poor health and even death rates as reduced social resources. The study observed immune system activation and antibody production, and found that leukocytes were differentially expressed in lonely individuals in comparison to those who were not. Leukocytes are white blood cells critical to the immune system. Future uses of the study include further exploration of the biological fingerprint to monitor interventions designed to reduce the impact of loneliness on health.

Loneliness is characterized by three conditions: isolation, feelings of disconnection, and feelings of not belonging. According to the study's lead author Cole in the press release, "We found that what counts at the level of gene expression is not how many people you know, it's how many you feel really close to over time."

This study re-confirms the link between mental and physical health, and indicates the need to treat the entire individual in times of illness.

Sources:

Genome Biology, Social regulation of gene expression in human leukocytes

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