Researchers have found that social isolation and loneliness could be associated with increased inflammation in the body, though loneliness and isolation should neither be used interchangeably nor grouped together.
For arriving at the findings, published in the journal Neuroscience & Biobehavioural Reviews, researchers analysed 30 previous studies to investigate the link between social isolation and loneliness with inflammation in the body.
“Our results suggest loneliness and social isolation are linked with different inflammatory markers. This shows how important it is to distinguish between loneliness and isolation, and that these terms should neither be used interchangeably nor grouped together,” said study researcher Christina Victor, Professor at Brunel University in UK.