Research Loneliness blocks our defenses

Friendships are good for the immune system
Man is a social being and therefore needs other people literally "like the air to breathe". Lack of social contact, loneliness can severely burden and even lead to depression. But apparently that's not all, because US researchers have now discovered that social isolation also negatively affects the immune system. This can explain why lonely people often die earlier.
Longing for a short break is quite normal
Almost everyone knows the need to be alone and not want to see or hear anyone. For who, for example, had a hard day at work or did not feel well, "likes to crawl inside your own home to have peace of mind. That's quite normal - but too long should not take this "time out". Because man is a community and needs social contacts to exchange and, for example, To receive affection and understanding. Permanent loneliness can be a heavy burden, cause stress and make you very unhappy.

Loneliness makes you sick. Image: Rawpixel.com - fotolia

Loneliness can lead to changes in body cells
But being alone can have more negative consequences. Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of California at Davis have now discovered that loneliness in humans, as well as rhesus monkeys, appears to weaken the immune system and increase the risk of physical illness. As the scientists around Steven Cole report in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences," their study examined the gene activity in the immune cells of 141 human subjects and 27 rhesus monkeys, which had a varying degree of social isolation.

It has been shown that loneliness can lead to changes in body cells, which actually increases the risk of physical illness. According to the researchers, activating life without social contacts in the so-called "white blood cells" (leukocytes) apparently genes that promote inflammation on the one hand and weaken the body's own virus defense on the other. This even showed a long-term effect, because the changes remained detectable even if there were social contacts again.

HI virus multiplies faster in lonely rhesus monkeys
A not to be underestimated risk, because the changes in the metabolism and immune system increase the risk of chronic inflammation and thus also, for example. for hypertension and other life-threatening cardiovascular diseases. By investigating the rhesus monkeys, the researchers also recognized that the monkey variant of the HI virus (simian immunodeficiency virus, abbreviated to SIV) in socially isolated animals spread faster than in animals with no apparent changes in the body cells.

The results show how important it is to be with other people, which makes loneliness a serious risk to health, particularly in the elderly. "Taken together, the results support a mechanistic model in which the longevity of social isolation in the lonely Leading to an increase in immature, inflammatory and anti-virus leukocytes, "the researchers said in their report. (No)