title: Inflammation and positive affect are associated with subjective health in women of the general population.
abstract: Poor subjective health has been associated with higher levels of inflammatory cytokines. We investigated whether such an association would apply to women of the general population. Levels of cytokines, affect and subjective health were assessed in 347 women of the general population aged 45 to 90 years. Higher levels of interleukin-6 were associated with poor subjective health, especially in participants over 65 years of age. Positive affect was a more robust determinant of subjective health than negative affect. The presence of low-grade inflammation and absence of positive affect, rather than presence of negative affect, may be important determinants of subjective health.
authors.affiliation: Center for Family and Community Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden. anna.andreasson@stressforskning.su.se
authors.forename: Anna Nixon
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Andreasson
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Szulkin
authors.forename: Anna-Lena
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Undén
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: von Essen
authors.forename: Lars-Göran
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Nilsson
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lekander
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood / Q000523:psychology*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D013548:Sweden
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D015850:Interleukin-6