Loneliness ‘can trigger physical response that leads to ill health’

A new study has indicated that loneliness is associated with specific physiological responses that can lead to the development of illnesses and poor health.

The University of Chicago research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has indicated that loneliness leads to fight-or-flight stress signalling, which can ultimately affect the production of white blood cells.

Researchers examined loneliness in both humans and rhesus macaques, a highly social primate species, and found that solitary members of both species experienced an effect called conserved transcriptional response to adversity, or CTRA.

This response is characterised by an increased expression of genes involved in inflammation and a decreased expression of genes involved in antiviral responses. The association was specific to loneliness and could not be explained by depression, stress or social support.

Moreover, it was shown that this shift was associated with tangible health consequences, with lonely monkeys experiencing infected with simian immunodeficiency virus – the equivalent of HIV – experiencing a faster development of the disease in the blood and brain.

This goes some way to explaining why perceived social isolation is a major health risk for older adults – one that can increase the risk of premature death by 14 percent.