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Brain and bereavement

Death affects the immune system

For the elderly, bereavement or an unhappy marriage may weaken the effectiveness of a flu vaccine, but other stresses do not appear to affect the immune system's response to the shots, as they do in younger people.

British researchers gave blood tests to 184 people over 65 to establish whether they had antibodies to influenza virus strains. The participants also filled out questionnaires about recent life events, social support, marital status and satisfaction and health habits. Then, they each received a flu vaccine effective against three different strains of virus. The results appear in the May issue of Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

One month after the vaccination, 32 per cent of the group who had suffered the death of a family member or friend during the previous year had a weakened antibody response to two of the strains.

Those who were married or living with a partner had an increased antibody response to one of the strains.

These factors remained significant even after adjusting for other factors that might affect antibody production.

(NYT)

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