from Dr Chapman and his colleagues at Rochester It examines the role
that the presence of different extraversion vs. introversion
personality traits are associated with circulating blood levels of
interleukin (IL)-6. This substance is a pro-inflammatory cytokine,
meaning that it's an indicator of the degree of inflammation present
in the body. Higher levels of IL-6 have been described in a number of
conditions in the elderly, ranging from coronary artery disease to
cognitive decline, muscle weakness and disability. And for elderly
people at risk of cardiovascular disease, raised inflammatory markers
like IL-6 indicate a higher risk of a fatal rather than a non-fatal
heart attack or stroke.
Extraversion is a personality trait with three components: a tendency
to happy thoughts, a desire for companionship, and "dispositional
energy" (this is a sense of vigor, purpose, and active engagement with
life). The study reported above found that happiness and companionship
didn't correlate in any way with IL-6 levels, but dispositional energy
did. Increases in this trait were associated with significant
decreases in IL-6 levels. In general, women and minorities have higher
levels of IL-6 than white males. In this study, both white and
minority women had significant differences I IL-6 level, depending on
whether they had high or low dispositional energy. The magnitude of
the differences were similar to those reported for a doubling in
5-year mortality in another study.
About 9% of the differences in IL-6 were due to gender, 6% to
dispositional energy, and4% to race or ethnicity. The authors of the
study considered it "a great surprise" that a personality trait could
contribute more to IL-6 levels than race/ethnicity.
If you're elderly, an introvert, and lacking in "life force", maybe
you should try to consider incorporating an exercise regime into your
lifestyle, preferably in a gym where you'll meet and interact with
others. (Physical activity lowers IL-6 levels, amongst many other
benefits.)
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