Loneliness Reflected in Your Blood Proteins?

 

Humans are social animals. Socially isolated humans generally have poorer health.  A recent Nature study used 42,000 subjects in the UK's Biobank Project to examine links between self-reported loneliness/social isolation and blood proteins. It went on to examine whether some of these proteins are linked of cardio-vascular disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke. In essence, 5 proteins partially explained the link between loneliness  and disease. Four of the 5 are associated with the volume of neural regions involved in emotional and social processes. They also determine the brain's perception of the state of the body (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jan/03/loneliness-ill-health-protein-levels-research). Although the impact of proteins on disease were relatively modest, they were significant. Consequently, the link between loneliness and ill-health seems real enough. The Covid19 pandemic appears to have lasting impacts on mental health, especially in young people. It could well cause further  increases in cardio-vascular disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke.