Loneliness increases risk of Premature Death, Study Says

Loneliness can be a dangerous risk factor, especially in older adults.

According to a new study, being and feeling alone or isolated from the society can increase one's risk of dying prematurely by 14 percent. For this study, the team, which included John Caciopp of the University of Chicago, Steven W. Cole of UCLA and John P. Capitanio of the California National Primate Research Center at the University of California, Davis, examined the relationship between loneliness and a phenomenon called "conserved transcriptional response to adversity" (CTRA) in 141 older adults. They later conducted a follow-up study in rhesus monkeys.

The team explained that CTRA was characterized by an increase in gene expression tied to inflammation and a decrease in gene expression linked to antiviral reactions. They found that in older adults who were lonely, the gene expression in leukocytes, which are cells from the body's immune system, had signs of CTRA. This meant that their immune system was not working as effectively as it could and their bodies had more inflammation when compared to adults of similar age who were not lonely.

The team also found that over time, the relationship between CTRA gene expression and loneliness was a reciprocal one.

The researchers plan on conducting more research in order to understand how detrimental loneliness can be more seniors and how they could potentially prevent or reduce people's risk of dying early.

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.