Happy couples heal faster

Here's a prescription with no adverse side effects, and it's free. Imagine what the drug companies would charge if they could put THIS in a bottle.


From Dr. Douglass:

Love (cures) hurts

It's been a while since I talked about the cure-all doctors can't prescribe: Love.

I was tempted to save this column for Valentine's Day - but I consider the subject matter so important that I could not in good conscience wait to tell you about it. Of course, I've written in the past about the healing power of love and close relationships, but some new studies point to an even more dramatic effect these kinds of intimacies can have on your health.

Here's the first bit of news: According to recent research conducted by scientists from Ohio State University, a happy, low-conflict marriage can speed the healing of injuries and wounds by as much as 40%!

The study, published in the December 2005 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, focused on 84 married subjects whose ages ranged from 22 to 77. In each, identical blisters were raised on their arms using a vacuum pump. The researchers found that couples with higher levels of marital hostility healed from these wounds at an average rate of 60% as quickly as those who enjoyed smoother matrimonial sailing.

The study also measured higher levels of residual cytokines - proteins produced by white blood cells that initially spur healing, but can become harmful if systemically prevalent in the blood - in couples that were feuding instead of canoodling. These cytokines have been linked to a host of age-related diseases, including cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, and even certain cancers.

In further news that love is a life-and-death boon to your health, UK scientists from the University of Birmingham claim they've found evidence suggesting that happily married folks - especially couples in their golden years - fight flu better than their lovelorn counterparts.

According to a recent BBCNews.com article, the British research focused on 180 volunteers over age 65. Their findings revealed that higher levels of flu-fighting antibodies were present in the blood of the matrimonially blissful than in those who were widowed, divorced, or unhappily married.

Looks like all we need instead of the worthless, hazardous flu vaccine they dole out every year is a good dose of marital harmony, huh?

But this isn't all that's new on the affection-as-medicine front...



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Cuddling your way to heart health

Have you ever noticed that "huggy" couples seem happier and healthier?

Well, there's a reason for that, according to some University of North Carolina researchers. They studied the stress response and hormone levels of 38 couples before and after having them watch an excerpt from a romance film and share a 20-second hug.

As it turns out, this scientist-induced "happy moment" resulted in a lowering of stress hormones like cortisol and norepinephrine and a spike in oxytocin, a hormone associated with love (especially the motherly, nurturing kind). The result of these combined reactions lowered blood pressure and reduced stress in the test's subjects.

According to the study's authors, these hormonal benefits to cardiac health are likely what's responsible for the statistical boost in longevity and overall health that longtime marriage confers - and also the root of why divorce is linked to higher mortality rates.

So if you want a healthy ticker for yourself and your spouse, scoop her up (or him, for you ladies) and dole out a big old dose of "snuggle medicine" every day. This type of "prescription" is the kind you can safely take multiple times a day, all year 'round.

Prescribing "snugs" over drugs - and loving every minute of it,

William Campbell Douglass II, MD