According to the World
Health Organization, cardiovascular diseases are the disorders of the
hearts and blood vessels. The at-risk population consists of individuals with
high blood pressure, glucose, and lipids. Furthermore, it also consists of
obese individuals. In addition to cardiovascular diseases, immunity is very
important in the avoidance of such diseases and illnesses. Many studies have
been conducted in order to better understand how such diseases can be avoided
or risk can be reduced.
During this semester, Dr. Boylan spoke to us about her
relevant research regarding this disease. She studied the neuroscience between
such diseases. Dr. Boylan particularly studied interleukin-6 (IL-6). IL-6 acts
as pro-inflammatory cytokine and
anti-inflammatory myokine. It is secreted by by cells which control immune
response in humans. Essentially, Dr. Boylan’s study was a moderation approach.
She studied previous cases and statistics to explore the association of
psychological well-being in terms of education attainment and levels of IL-6. Her
hypothesis was that increased levels of psychological well-being protects
against high IL-6 among a less educated population. The results of her study
were generally consistent with her hypothesis. The implications of her study
was that scientists and doctors can better treat patients with immune or
cardiovascular diseases if they understand the neurochemistry behind it such as
the role of IL-6, specifically.
There was a relevant study done a few years ago in the PubMed journal. The researchers hypothesized that psychological well-being
would result in lower plasma levels of inflammatory factors in aging women. The
design consisted of 135 women (ages 61-91 years old). It was a self-report
design where the participants completed a questionnaire. Afterwards, blood
samples for analysis were obtained. The results of this study indicated that
plasma IL-6 levels were lower in women who had a higher sense of well-being. Overall,
results suggest a pattern between life inflammatory processes and psychological
factors. The implications of this study are very important because understanding
the role that IL-6 plays in well-being can influence the study of diseases that
often are more likely due to low psychological well-being.
With the increasing rate of diseases and individuals with
low psychological well-beings—it is important that enough research is conducted
on the causes and factors that play a role in these diseases. This will help to
better understand how to treat and prevent such diseases and issues.
- Nisha Patel
References:
Image:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interleukin_6
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