At the beginning of the new year, let's have a confession game -
Handsome man, how about counting your girlfriends?
what? Maternal-fetal solo? (Laugh without words)
Girls, if your "he" is telling the truth, you may be able to verify it with "scientific means"!
On January 10, 2022, a project entitled "Do partnership dissolutions and living alone affect systemic chronic inflammation?" The paper was published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. The study came to an interesting conclusion: Single middle-aged men who have lived alone for years or have experienced multiple breakups/divorces are at higher risk of developing inflammation in their bodies than the average person. note! This conclusion is for men only! (Emphasis)
Figure 1. Do partnership dissolutions and living alone affect systemic chronic inflammation? A cohort study of Danish adults (图片来源：BMJ Journals)
The study included 4,835 participants, including 3,336 men and 1,499 women, all from the Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank (CAMB) in the age range of 48 to 62 years. Of these, 4612 participants (3170 men and 1442 women) also provided information on the number of breakups. The subjects' levels of inflammation were measured by measuring two key inflammatory markers in their blood, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP).
In this experiment, the researchers surveyed the participants' lives over the past 26 years (1986-2011), all participants were invited to participate in the CAMB follow-up, and 31% of the participants also completed an additional questionnaire including health behavior, psychological factors, physical condition, etc., and conducted clinical tests.
Single life of less than 1 year is considered a common and normal situation (haha, not heartbroken?). Therefore, this group of people is defined as the control group of this experiment. The results showed that men who lived alone for a longer period of time (single ≥7 years) had 12% higher IL-6 levels and 11% higher CRP levels compared to the "lucky ones" in the control group, while men who experienced multiple emotional entanglements (≥ breakups 2 times) increased by 17% compared with male participants who never lost their partners.
Figure 2. Relationship between emotional breakdown/years of solitude and two inflammatory markers in men and women (Image: BMJ Journals)
In addition, it is estimated that all men will be stunned and called "unfair": this correlation is only manifested in men, and in female subjects, this trend is not expressed - even if they have lived alone for several years, or have experienced multiple breakups, the female participants will not have elevated levels of inflammatory markers IL-6 and CRP.
The researchers have made several explanations for the causes of this phenomenon:
First, it may be due to the fact that men are generally able to derive more health benefits from their relationships (in simple terms, being well cared for), which means that once separated from their partner, their health levels show a great downward trend;
Second, after experiencing a breakup, men are more inclined to "externalizing" behaviors, such as making obviously unhealthy actions such as running out in the middle of the night to buy drunk, which leads to an increase in inflammation levels; while women choose to digest their emotions silently, that is, to "internalize" the problem, but the consequence is to manifest as mental depression symptoms.
Figure 3. Men and women behave differently after a breakup (Image: Pixabay)
Of course, since this study included relatively fewer female participants than men, more female subjects need to be included to refine the conclusions if we want to explain the reasons for this difference more reasonably.
At the same time, the researchers also found that for men, educational attainment was also associated with increased levels of inflammation.
Among male participants who experienced multiple breakups, the more educated men had the greater increase in IL-6 and CRP in their blood: the increase in IL-6 was most pronounced among men who had been highly educated and had lived alone for at least 7 years; at the same time, the increase in CRP was highest among men who had been highly educated and had lived alone for 2 to 6 years. Conversely, no markers of inflammation were found to be particularly susceptible to the number of years of singlehood or breakups in men and women with less education.
Figure 4. Combined effects of emotional breakdown/years of solitude and highest educational attainment on inflammatory markers in men (Credit: BMJ Journals)
However, the researchers acknowledge that this is only an observational study, so the causal relationship between singleness and inflammation is not 100% certain. But although this "systemic chronic inflammation" (SCI) is classified as low grade inflammation, it does not sound like a major impact on human health, it continues to deteriorate with age and is considered a key factor in several age-related diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Because of its significant clinical relevance, it is likely to be one of the risk factors for increasing mortality.
In summary, from the perspective of the physical and mental health and happiness of the big guys, avoid "home" and avoid "scum", which can be described as a four-word truth!
References:
1.BMJ: Do partnership dissolutions and living alone affect systemic chronic inflammation? A cohort study of Danish adults
https://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2022/01/04/jech-2021-217422#block-system-main
2.EurekAlert: Years lived alone and/or serial break-ups strongly linked to inflammation in men
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/939439
Written by | Xu Chuchu
Source | Bio Valley
Organize | Swagpp