A new study reveals that loneliness can send a person towards bad health. They have shown that being a loner doesn't only affect people mentally and emotionally, but also physically. Worse, scientists say that loners die younger too.
American scientists have discovered that people who are lonely may face many serious health complications that could lead to their untimely death. What is loneliness? Psychology defines it as a universal human emotion that has no single common cause. Hence, ways of treating it may vary from person to person.
Subsequently, it is also defined as the state of being alone and a state of mind. According to John Cacioppo, a University of Chicago psychologist and one of the top loneliness experts, loneliness can be traced to genetics while other factors may lead to the emotional state such as physical isolation, moving to a new location and divorce.
In the new study, the scientists examined the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) using a 'gene chip' of around 22,000 people and discovered that those who said they are chronically lonely had weaker immune systems.
According to study author Steve Cole, a molecular biologist at the University of California, "This study shows that the biological impact of social isolation reaches down into some of our most basic internal processes - the activity of our genes."
He added, "There are two theories.The social provision theory, which basically is about what other people do for you in a tangible, material sense. Like, if I am sick and I have got people around me, they will take me to the doctors, they will see I take my pills."
"The other is that there is something about being isolated and lonely that changes your body," he further explained.
They analyzed the gene activity of the participants' immune system cells which are the white blood cells that ward off foreign bodies from the body like viruses and bacteria. In the 22,000 genes studied, 209 were prominent in lonely people.
"These 200 genes weren't sort of a random mishmash of genes. They were part of a highly suspicious conspiracy of genes. A big fraction of them seemed to be involved in the basic immune response to tissue damage," Cole said.
Lastly, they said that the loneliest people have higher levels of inflammation that is linked to many diseases especially stroke and other cardiovascular illnesses.