Fwd: Mechanism Found That Weakens Caregivers' Immune Status

[Guest guest]

" Patricia C. Walter "

 

Sat, 20 Sep 2003 16:54:12 -0500

Mechanism Found That Weakens Caregivers' Immune Status

 

All of us former/current/long-term caregivers should know about this. Mechanism

Found That Weakens Caregivers' Immune Status

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers here have found a critical chemical pathway through

which the human immune system is weakened by chronic stress. The study

reinforces earlier work that showed long-term caregivers suffer from impaired

immunity.

 

The new discovery is important because it points to a specific cytokine –

Interleukin-6 – as the mechanism by which the immune system may be compromised.

An increase in IL-6 has been associated previously with an increased risk for a

host of serious diseases in the elderly.

 

Surprisingly, this new study shows that the immune disregulation marked by the

increase in IL-6 can linger in caregivers for as long as three years, even after

they had ceased that role.

 

This suggests that people who care for the chronically ill are themselves at a

much greater risk for developing their own serious health problems.

 

The study was led by Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, a professor of psychology and

psychiatry, and Ronald Glaser, a professor of molecular virology, immunology and

medical genetics, at Ohio State University and the Institute for Behavioral

Medicine Research. The study appears in this week's issue (July 3, 2003) of the

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

The project is the latest part of a long-term study of the health of spouses and

others who care for patients with dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

 

The researchers monitored the health of 117 caregivers of chronic patients and

compared them to a control group of 106 others who had no care-giving role. The

controls were matched for age, general health and socioeconomic status.

 

Each of the study participants completed a series of psychological surveys to

gauge their perceived levels of stress, depression and loneliness. Additionally,

blood samples were drawn from the participants when they entered the study and

at least twice annually thereafter.

 

At the start of this phase of the longitudinal 'caregivers' study, nearly a

quarter of the caregivers' spouses had already died. During the six years of the

study, an additional 50 spouses died. The monitoring of caregiver health

continued even after the death of the spouse.

 

From the blood samples taken from the participants, the researchers were able to

plot IL-6 levels throughout the study. Increased levels of IL-6 are known to be

associated with many diseases of the elderly including heart disease, arthritis,

osteoporosis, type-2 diabetes and certain cancers.

 

" We found that the caregivers' average rate of increase in IL-6 was about four

times larger than that of the control group, " explained Kiecolt-Glaser, " which

could have important implications for morbidity and mortality.

 

" This is key evidence for one pathway through which chronic stress may pose

potent health consequences in older people. It may well accelerate the risk of a

host of age-related diseases as well as deaths, " she said.

 

Her colleague Ronald Glaser described the continued immune impairment as

startling.

 

" The rate of IL-6 increase among former caregivers continued even several years

after their ill spouse had died. The absence of any notable improvement even

after they were freed from their caregiving duties may be linked to both

biological and psychological mechanisms, " he said.

 

" Stress and depression can permanently alter the responsiveness of the immune

system. "

 

The researchers were surprised, they said, that the caregivers' immune status

did not " rebound " after a period of bereavement, as earlier studies had seemed

to suggest it would.

 

" The changes in caregivers are not simply an artifact of bereavement, "

Kiecolt-Glaser said.

 

The study also provided some preliminary data showing that African-American

participants had higher levels of IL-6 than did non-African Americans.

 

William B. Malarkey, professor of internal medicine; Kristopher J. Preacher, a

doctoral student in psychology; Cathie Atkinson, a research psychologist in

psychiatry, all at Ohio State University; and Robert C. MacCallum, professor of

psychology at the University of North Carolina, were part of the study team.

 

Earlier work by this research group showed that a person's stress levels can

have a detrimental effect on how well certain vaccines immunize, that high

stress levels can markedly slow wound healing, and that even short-term

stressful events such as arguments and test-taking can weaken a person's immune

status.

 

Support for the research came from the National Institutes of Health, the

National Institute of General Clinical Research, National Institute of Mental

Health, National Institute on Aging and the National Cancer Institute.

 

 

 

 

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