The real eye-opener, says Copeland, a psychologist and epidemiologist at Duke University Medical Center, was the change in CRP in the 19- and 21-year-olds. Levels of the protein increased over time in all groups, which is normal. But the increase was sharper in the bullying victims: Even 10 years later, average CRP levels were still higher than in those who had never been bullied. In the bullies, the levels were slightly less than half that of the victims. The CRP differences between bullies and victims remained even when the researchers accounted for potentially confounding factors, such as mental disorders, substance abuse and other forms of stress.
Okay... this trendy topic really bugs me.
Kids who are sick have higher C-reactive protein. It's an immune molecule. Inflammation is a sign of INFECTION.
Kids who are sick cry more easily. (I know, I am making an assumption of the obvious here, maybe someone should do a study on that?)
Kids who cry more easily get picked on by bullies. Go figure.
Kids whose parents think the crying is caused by bullies do not address the underlying illness.
So those kids are still sick when they reach 20.
Cause and Effect.
