BACKGROUND: Chronically elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines are associated with inflammatory diseases and psychological symptoms of depression and tiredness. OBJECTIVE: To test the prediction that, in a healthy population without medically diagnosed diseases, psychological symptoms (depression and tiredness) associated with proinflammatory cytokines correlate with physical symptoms associated with inflammatory disease. METHODS: A total of 1,143 women between 45 and 65 years old completed a health complaint checklist containing 11 target symptoms (5 related to allergy, 4 to gastrointestinal symptoms, and 2 to pain), 7 control symptoms or health complaints, and 2 psychological symptoms (depression and tiredness). They also completed a menopausal quality-of-life questionnaire; to compensate for response bias, we removed variance attributable to quality of life. RESULTS: The partial correlations show that tiredness (but not depression) correlated with 9 of the 11 target symptoms (P < .001) but with 0 of the 7 control symptoms or complaints. Symptoms of both the specific and the systemic components of inflammatory disease are correlated in a healthy population. CONCLUSION: Immune dysregulation may explain the existence and covariation of psychological and physical symptoms in the healthy population, including people with medically unexplained symptoms.
BACKGROUND: Chronically elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines are associated with inflammatory diseases and psychological symptoms of depression and tiredness. OBJECTIVE: To test the prediction that, in a healthy population without medically diagnosed diseases, psychological symptoms (depression and tiredness) associated with proinflammatory cytokines correlate with physical symptoms associated with inflammatory disease. METHODS: A total of 1,143 women between 45 and 65 years old completed a health complaint checklist containing 11 target symptoms (5 related to allergy, 4 to gastrointestinal symptoms, and 2 to pain), 7 control symptoms or health complaints, and 2 psychological symptoms (depression and tiredness). They also completed a menopausal quality-of-life questionnaire; to compensate for response bias, we removed variance attributable to quality of life. RESULTS: The partial correlations show that tiredness (but not depression) correlated with 9 of the 11 target symptoms (P < .001) but with 0 of the 7 control symptoms or complaints. Symptoms of both the specific and the systemic components of inflammatory disease are correlated in a healthy population. CONCLUSION: Immune dysregulation may explain the existence and covariation of psychological and physical symptoms in the healthy population, including people with medically unexplained symptoms.
Authors: Michael E Hyland; Ben Whalley; David M G Halpin; Colin J Greaves; Clare Seamark; Sue Blake; Margaret Pinnuck; David Ward; Adam Hawkins; Dave Seamark Journal: Prim Care Respir J Date: 2012-12