Johns Hopkins researchers say the link between caregiving and detrimental effects on immune system has been overstated and the association is extremely small.
Now, after analyzing 30 papers on the levels of immune and inflammatory molecules in caregivers, Johns Hopkins researchers say the link has been overstated and the association is extremely small. Caregiver stress explains less than 1 percent of the variability in immune and inflammation biomarkers, they report.
Their new meta-analysis was published March 10 in The Gerontologist. “We’re not saying that family caregiving can’t be stressful, but there’s a notion that it’s so stressful that it causes deteriorating health and increased mortality. This can lead to fear of caregiving and a reluctance to care for loved ones in need,” says first author David Roth, M.A., Ph.D., professor of medicine and director of the Center on Aging and Health at The Johns Hopkins University. “We’re challenging that narrative as being too exaggerated.”
