Interleukin (IL) 6 & Emotions

I was asked today to comment on the inflammation studies and heart disease and whether there were any known connections with IL-6 and anger. InterHeart Study found that psychosocial stress was a risk factor and similar to tobacco use. Eli Puterman et al., published data in 2014 (Int J Behav Med) demonstrating that anger was associated with elevated IL-6 levels in women, but only among those low in social support. Interesting study. Even low levels of anger after acute stress was related to IL-6 reactivity. Mittleman et al. found a 2.3 fold increase in myocardial infarction within 2 hours following anger episode and these findings have been confirmed in other studies. Those who "ruminate, or perseverate, on past events that trigger anger have particularly poor physiological recover following stress." This can be associated with endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerotic plaque formation.

Stanford researchers found negative emotions predict elevated IL-6 levels. (Brain, Behavior and Immunity, 2013). Negative emotions can aggravate inflammatory processes and are associated with poor health. Hippocrates was credited for saying, "Natural healing within us is the greatest force for getting well." We are created to self-repair. Stress is necessary to the survival of living things, but chronic stress and maladaptive responses to stress lead to illness. In the book "Zebras Don't Get Ulcers" I learned many things. A zebra may be chased by a lion from the water source, but once he or she gets away ( survived! ) goes back to living. The zebra does not stand around talking to the other zebras about the horrible lion or the episode for days after. No, the zebra returns to life and keeps fit so the lion misses the opportunity again tomorrow.

I find the Puterman study quite interesting since it found the highest IL-6 levels in those without perceived emotional support. A study in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that heart attack victims without emotional support or friends, had the worse outcomes. Dr. Harlan Krumholz, M.D. was the study's senior author and made a valuable point regarding the findings. "We shouldn't just be concerning ourselves with pills and procedures. We have to pay attention to things like love and friendship and the context of people's lives. It may be that these efforts to help people connect better with others, particularly after an illness, may have very powerful effects on their recovery and the quality of their lives afterwards."

Hope that answers your question.