"Loneliness reduces life expectancy"... Increased 'malicious protein' associated with cardiovascular, diabetes, and stroke.

While psychological loneliness has emerged as a global health problem, research has shown that it can increase the level of malignant proteins that cause disease.

According to the British daily Guardian on the 3rd local time, researchers at Cambridge University in England have found an underlying mechanism for loneliness to worsen physical health in a study published in the scientific journal Nature.

The research team compared protein levels in the blood between those who were suffering from social isolation or loneliness and those who were not through data from 42,000 UK Biobank participants.

Considering other health factors such as gender, age, educational background, smoking, and alcohol consumption, the research team found a link between 175 protein species in the blood and social isolation.

Most of the proteins linked to social isolation or loneliness are involved in inflammation, antiviral reactions, and immune systems, the research team explained.

When long-term health data from participants were followed for an average of 14 years, the researchers said 90% of that protein was found to be associated with the risk of death.

In particular, about 50% of the protein in question was found to be associated with cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke.

The researchers also went through the process of verifying the causal relationship between these high protein levels and loneliness, and as a result, social isolation and loneliness are likely to cause protein levels to rise.

University of Helsinki professor Marco Elovainio, who was not involved in the study, said the study strongly supports previous findings that loneliness and social isolation are linked to numerous physical health problems.