A while back, in the wake of a breakup, I more or less lost the urge to eat. Breakfast was the first casualty.
Lunch survived. Several friends at work, aware of my circumstance, kindly made sure I ate with them every workday. This confirmed that my appetite was fine.
As for dinner, that became a question of whether it was one of the nights with my kids or not. If it was, I ate robustly; otherwise, not so much.
After a few months of this, I’d lost enough weight (~20 pounds) that my boss at the time — not a guy who would usually comment on such matters — said I looked thin. The way he chose to make this observation was to point out that he himself wasn’t losing weight because every day he happily ate all three meals with his (third) wife.
“I got lucky,” he smiled. I smiled back, because I’d been wondering where he disappeared to every lunch hour.
Alas, his comment didn’t exactly improve my mood or my appetite, though it did suggest to me that maybe I should start looking for my own (third) wife.
While that never panned out, my objective today was not to distract you with sad tales of lost love or multiple marriages. but rather to take note of a remarkable piece of work by science writer Florence Williams, as detailed in the Washington Post.
When her husband of 25 years left her in 2017, Williams noticed immediate changes in her body, including a dramatic 20-pound weight loss, same as had happened with me. Unlike me, she decided to investigate why this happened and whether there was anything she could do about it.
The result of that investigation is her book, “Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey.” And it is of particular interest in the present circumstances of the dramatic rise in severe loneliness (which has tripled) and the general isolation suffered by many of us during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Williams interviewed scientists who explained that as the hyper-social creatures we’ve evolved to be, suddenly finding ourselves alone and isolated may provoke a number of physical changes.
According to the Post, “To the nervous system, being dumped is like being left alone in the wild, and it reacts accordingly. ‘You’re about to be attacked by predators, you don’t have safety in numbers,’ Williams said, ‘and so your body [produces] more white blood cells’ — inflammation to deal with the wounds. That means the body must make less of the interferon proteins that help people combat viruses.”
As the Post notes: “Inflammation in the short term is helpful in healing from a wound inflicted by predators. But over the long term it is associated with heart disease, cancer, stroke, dementia and early death. And, as it turns out, it also can predispose people to getting sicker from Covid.”
In the U.S., of course, there has been a steady increase in single occupancy households over time. For obvious reasons, elderly people are at particularly high risk of ending up in such circumstances. And of course it is the elderly who have disproportionately suffered and are still suffering from Covid.
Williams’s work made me better understand how my own body had reacted to that heartbreak years ago, and to similar situations before and since. Then again, I always knew that losing (or gaining) weight was the least of my problems. Too much time alone is the main health risk for me.
If there is a moral to this story I suppose you don’t need me to figure it out.
***
Thanks to Susan Zakin for alerting me to this fascinating and useful piece. And while I’m at it, let me remind you all to check out Susan’s fascinating and useful publication, Journal of the Plague Years.
TODAY’s NEWS HEADLINES (35):
Dumped by her husband, an author dove into loneliness and resurfaced with lessons for a pandemic (WP)
How to Want Less — The secret to satisfaction has nothing to do with achievement, money, or stuff. (Atlantic)
Covid deaths highest in a year as omicron hits unvaccinated and elderly
Omicron has been particularly lethal to people over 75, the unvaccinated and the medically vulnerable, according to doctors and public health officials. (WP)
Scientists raise alarm over ‘dangerously fast’ growth in atmospheric methane (Nature)
As Protest Paralyzes Canada’s Capital, Far-Right Activists Abroad Embrace It (NYT)
Canadian police make arrests amid ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests and seize fuel, vehicles (WP)
5G and QAnon: how conspiracy theorists steered Canada’s anti-vaccine trucker protest (Guardian)
Truckers in Ottawa block a key border crossing, as their protest morphs and drags on (NPR)
Canadians warn against ‘foreign interference’ as U.S. Republicans back ‘Freedom Convoy’ (WP)
Officials in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, California and Oregon said they will lift indoor mask mandates for schools and other public places in coming weeks, seeking a return to "normalcy" as soaring COVID-19 infections fueled by the Omicron variant abate. The changes signal a growing inclination by political leaders in those states, all led by Democrats, to take pandemic-weary residents off an emergency footing. (Reuters)
Republicans, Wooing Trump Voters, Make Fauci Their Boogeyman (NYT)
The United States faces heightened threats from extremist groups domestic and foreign, underscored by last month's hostage standoff crisis in a Texas synagogue and bomb threats at many historically Black colleges and universities, a government agency said. The warning comes after some schools across the United States canceled classes and issued shelter-in-place orders last week. (Reuters)
China locks down southern city as omicron variant surges (AP)
Polio, Chickenpox, Measles … Covid-19? The Case for Vaccine Mandates in Schools. (NYT)
VIDEO: Jill Biden Is ‘Disappointed’ that Free Community College Is Off the Table (AP)
Supreme Court Restores Alabama Voting Map That a Court Said Hurt Black Voters (NYT)
Afghanistan: Watching the destruction of a nation? (BBC)
Documents detail U.S. military’s frustration with White House, diplomats over Afghan evacuation (WP)
Ukraine crisis: Macron says Putin pledges no new Ukraine escalation (BBC)
Both Sides of Taiwan Strait Are Closely Watching Ukraine’s Crisis (NYT)
As bitcoin drifts towards mainstream maturity in 2022, daring crypto investors are eyeing up new sources of explosive action: "altcoins" that power online games and worlds. But, be warned, the foothills of the unformed metaverse are no place for the faint-hearted. (Reuters)
In India, wearing hijab bars some Muslim students from class (AP)
As Officials Look Away, Hate Speech in India Nears Dangerous Levels (NYT)
How Manchin used politics to protect his family coal company (Politico)
Turtles dying from eating trash show plastics scourge in UAE (AP)
These Animals Are Feasting on the Ruins of an Extinct World — Scientists had no idea how an underwater Arctic volcano could sustain so much life. And then they noticed the black tubes. (Atlantic)
These two countries are responsible for 'junkyard' in Earth's orbit (CNN)
Astronomers Join Forces to Push Back Against Satellite 'Pollution' Ruining The Skies (Science Alert)
Citizens globally blast politicians' lack of action to combat climate change — Poll (Politico)
Why buying a car is still such a miserable experience right now (NPR)
'I have sinned': US nun gets one year in jail for $835k theft (BBC)
Hamsters can transmit Covid to humans, data suggests (Guardian)
New Ancestry.com Feature Warns Users When They Might Want To Stop Sticking Noses Where They Don’t Belong (The Onion)
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