Nobody like being alone for the Holidays but it sadly does happen. All the more reason to project that spirit of “good will toward men & women”.

Now science says being lonely is not only a horrible feeling, but it turns out it can actually translate into physical problems.

Researchers from the University of Chicago, UCLA, and the California National Primate Research Center at the University of California discovered that lonely individuals showed an increased expression of genes involved in inflammation and a decreased expression of genes involved in antiviral responses.

So in English that means being lonely can make contribute to you becoming ill!

The team also looked at white blood cell production in monkeys, and found that both lonely humans and "lonely-like"monkeys had higher white blood cell counts demonstrating that our social isolation is causing our body to sense certain kinds of danger. For human beings, social isolation is experienced as dangerous.

Researchers plan to investigate how loneliness leads to health problems and how these effects can be prevented in older adults. (CBS News)

A Day With Jean-Marie Le Pen
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