Re: Health benefits of falling and staying in love

[Guest guest]

And it doesn't hurt to have someone that does all the washing, folding, ironing, cooking, dishwashing, vacuuming, taking out the garbage, making the bed, dusting, and throwing out the stuff I haven't used in 5 years.

Regards

PS. Remembering appointments, children's, gchildren's and ggchildren's and relatives birthdays/anniversaries.

Paying bills.

Doing taxes.

[ ] Health benefits of falling and staying in love

By SaslowWashington Post Staff Writer Monday, February 7, 2011; 1:46 PMLove may make the world go 'round, but is it powerful enough to lower one's blood pressure, reduce depression and speed the healing of an injury? With Valentine's Day just around the corner, we set out to find the answer and discovered that science says yes."Our relationships help us cope with stress, so if we have someone we can turn to for emotional support or advice, that can buffer the negative effects of stress," says nne Holt-Lunstad, an associate professor of psychology at Brigham Young University, who has been publishing studies for the past 10 years on social relationships and their influence on health and disease.Most studies on the health benefits of love have focused on married couples. In 2007, after reviewing research on the health effects of matrimony, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a 68-page report that found that, in general, married people are happier, live longer, drink less and even have fewer doctor's appointments than unmarried folks.Of course, "we all know that not all marriages are happy," Holt-Lunstad says. Very few of the thousands of marriage studies take the quality of the union into account; "I can think of maybe seven."So, Holt-Lunstad set out to see what kind of links there might be between love and health, and in 2008, she identified one, in a study published that year about marriage and blood pressure. She found that happily married people have lower blood pressure than unmarried people. But unhappily married people have higher blood pressure than both groups. So, when it comes to blood pressure, at least, you're probably better off alone than in a troubled marriage.Loving spouses tend to encourage preventive care, reinforce healthy behaviors such as exercise and flossing, and dissuade unhealthy ones, such as heavy drinking, according to many studies. Romantic relationships also can provide a sense of meaning and purpose in life that can translate to better self-care and less risk taking, Holt-Lunstad says. (There are also practical benefits to marriage that can improve one's health but have nothing to do with love. For instance, married people are more likely to have health insurance and be financially stable, according to the HHS study.)Arthur Aron, a social psychologist at Stony Brook University in New York, has dedicated his professional life to understanding the science of love. Specifically, Aron does brain scans with fMRI machines of people at various stages of the romantic journey: newly in love, in long-term relationships and recently rejected.Like winning the lotteryThough most of his studies are small, involving only 15 to 20 people, Aron has consistently found that feelings of love trigger the brain's dopamine-reward system. Dopamine is a powerful neurotransmitter that affects pleasure and motivation. It is activated in many people, for instance, by winning a lot of money or taking cocaine.In a study released in the January 2011 issue of Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Aron compared the brain scans of 17 people who had been married for an average of 21 years with data from his 2005 study of 17 people (10 women and 7 men, median age of 21) who were newly in love. Both groups had neural activation in the dopamine system but, interestingly, the brains of the newer lovebirds also lit up in areas associated with anxiety, obsession and tension."When you've just fallen in love and the person goes out of your sight for five minutes, you think, 'Are they dead? Did they find someone else?' " Aron says.Hugging and hand-holding, meanwhile, have been found to release the hormone oxytocin, which lowers the levels of stress hormones in the body, reducing blood pressure, improving mood and increasing tolerance for pain, according to research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.If being in love makes you happy, it may also have another welcome health benefit: fewer colds. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh assessed 334 healthy volunteers, ages 18 to 54, for their emotional styles. Those who tended to experience positive emotions such as happy, pleased and relaxed were more resistant to the common cold than those who felt anxious, hostile or depressed. Since the study covered anyone with positive emotions, the results could apply to those in happy relationships - or anyone with a sunny outlook.A healing effectA happy marriage may also speed the rate that wounds heal, according to a 2005 study at Ohio State University. It found that a married couple's 30-minute positive, supportive discussion sped up their bodies' ability to recover from an injury by at least one day. Researchers Jan Kiecolt-Glaser and Glaser fit 42 married couples with small suction devices that created eight tiny blisters on their arms. On one visit after being subjecting to the blistering device, the researchers prompted the couple to talk about "an area of disagreement, something that inherently had an emotional element," Kiecolt-Glaser says. On another visit, the couple had a loving discussion after the blistering. Those blisters healed a day sooner.Just friendsFor those who aren't in love right now, all is not lost. Holt-Lunstad and colleagues found that strong connections to friends, family, neighbors or colleagues improve odds of survival by 50 percent. She examined data from 148 studies that followed 308,849 people an average of 71/2 years. Social connectedness proved as beneficial to survival as quitting smoking and exceeded the benefits of exercise.Meanwhile, it's worth noting that love gone wrong can have health consequences as well."Lots of the data on suicide and depression show that one of the major causes, especially among younger people, is rejection in love or unrequited love," Aron says.Divorce can damage one's physical health so dramatically that the person never recovers. A 2009 study in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior found that divorced or widowed people have 20 percent more chronic health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer, than married people. They also have 23 percent more mobility limitations, such as trouble walking up stairs. Remarriage offset this trend a bit, but not completely.

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5856 (20110208) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

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[Guest guest]

I found this part remarkable:

Social connectedness proved as beneficial to survival as quitting smoking and exceeded the benefits of exercise

On 2/8/11 10:24 AM, " jwwright " <jwwright@...> wrote:

And it doesn't hurt to have someone that does all the washing, folding, ironing, cooking, dishwashing, vacuuming, taking out the garbage, making the bed, dusting, and throwing out the stuff I haven't used in 5 years.

Regards

PS. Remembering appointments, children's, gchildren's and ggchildren's and relatives birthdays/anniversaries.

Paying bills.

Doing taxes.

[ ] Health benefits of falling and staying in love

By Saslow

Washington Post Staff Writer

Monday, February 7, 2011; 1:46 PM

Love may make the world go 'round, but is it powerful enough to lower one's blood pressure, reduce depression and speed the healing of an injury? With Valentine's Day just around the corner, we set out to find the answer and discovered that science says yes.

" Our relationships help us cope with stress, so if we have someone we can turn to for emotional support or advice, that can buffer the negative effects of stress, " says nne Holt-Lunstad, an associate professor of psychology at Brigham Young University, who has been publishing studies for the past 10 years on social relationships and their influence on health and disease.

Most studies on the health benefits of love have focused on married couples. In 2007, after reviewing research on the health effects of matrimony, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a 68-page report that found that, in general, married people are happier, live longer, drink less and even have fewer doctor's appointments than unmarried folks.

Of course, " we all know that not all marriages are happy, " Holt-Lunstad says. Very few of the thousands of marriage studies take the quality of the union into account; " I can think of maybe seven. "

So, Holt-Lunstad set out to see what kind of links there might be between love and health, and in 2008, she identified one, in a study published that year about marriage and blood pressure. She found that happily married people have lower blood pressure than unmarried people. But unhappily married people have higher blood pressure than both groups. So, when it comes to blood pressure, at least, you're probably better off alone than in a troubled marriage.

Loving spouses tend to encourage preventive care, reinforce healthy behaviors such as exercise and flossing, and dissuade unhealthy ones, such as heavy drinking, according to many studies. Romantic relationships also can provide a sense of meaning and purpose in life that can translate to better self-care and less risk taking, Holt-Lunstad says. (There are also practical benefits to marriage that can improve one's health but have nothing to do with love. For instance, married people are more likely to have health insurance and be financially stable, according to the HHS study.)

Arthur Aron, a social psychologist at Stony Brook University in New York, has dedicated his professional life to understanding the science of love. Specifically, Aron does brain scans with fMRI machines of people at various stages of the romantic journey: newly in love, in long-term relationships and recently rejected.

Like winning the lottery

Though most of his studies are small, involving only 15 to 20 people, Aron has consistently found that feelings of love trigger the brain's dopamine-reward system. Dopamine is a powerful neurotransmitter that affects pleasure and motivation. It is activated in many people, for instance, by winning a lot of money or taking cocaine.

In a study released in the January 2011 issue of Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Aron compared the brain scans of 17 people who had been married for an average of 21 years with data from his 2005 study of 17 people (10 women and 7 men, median age of 21) who were newly in love. Both groups had neural activation in the dopamine system but, interestingly, the brains of the newer lovebirds also lit up in areas associated with anxiety, obsession and tension.

" When you've just fallen in love and the person goes out of your sight for five minutes, you think, 'Are they dead? Did they find someone else?' " Aron says.

Hugging and hand-holding, meanwhile, have been found to release the hormone oxytocin, which lowers the levels of stress hormones in the body, reducing blood pressure, improving mood and increasing tolerance for pain, according to research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

If being in love makes you happy, it may also have another welcome health benefit: fewer colds. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh assessed 334 healthy volunteers, ages 18 to 54, for their emotional styles. Those who tended to experience positive emotions such as happy, pleased and relaxed were more resistant to the common cold than those who felt anxious, hostile or depressed. Since the study covered anyone with positive emotions, the results could apply to those in happy relationships - or anyone with a sunny outlook.

A healing effect

A happy marriage may also speed the rate that wounds heal, according to a 2005 study at Ohio State University. It found that a married couple's 30-minute positive, supportive discussion sped up their bodies' ability to recover from an injury by at least one day. Researchers Jan Kiecolt-Glaser and Glaser fit 42 married couples with small suction devices that created eight tiny blisters on their arms. On one visit after being subjecting to the blistering device, the researchers prompted the couple to talk about " an area of disagreement, something that inherently had an emotional element, " Kiecolt-Glaser says. On another visit, the couple had a loving discussion after the blistering. Those blisters healed a day sooner.

Just friends

For those who aren't in love right now, all is not lost. Holt-Lunstad and colleagues found that strong connections to friends, family, neighbors or colleagues improve odds of survival by 50 percent. She examined data from 148 studies that followed 308,849 people an average of 71/2 years. Social connectedness proved as beneficial to survival as quitting smoking and exceeded the benefits of exercise.

Meanwhile, it's worth noting that love gone wrong can have health consequences as well.

" Lots of the data on suicide and depression show that one of the major causes, especially among younger people, is rejection in love or unrequited love, " Aron says.

Divorce can damage one's physical health so dramatically that the person never recovers. A 2009 study in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior found that divorced or widowed people have 20 percent more chronic health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer, than married people. They also have 23 percent more mobility limitations, such as trouble walking up stairs. Remarriage offset this trend a bit, but not completely.

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5856 (20110208) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

[Guest guest]

Being a widow(er), I checked the reference (41) in the (2) below paper, but the same author updated results, in a pdf-availed (1) paper, in a 13.25 years follow-up study and these results were: "Although earlier analyses had indicated excess mortality in the first 6 months of bereavement for men aged 75+, there were no other significant excess mortality rates over the 13 1/4-year period. ... Logistic regression analysis showed that age, sex and functional ability were the strongest predictors of mortality, and frequency of telephone contacts was only significant for the younger widowed."

The (2) paper is free full-texts.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/07/AR2011020703564.html

1. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Volume 9, Issue 6, pages 445–459, June 1994Bowling, A. (1994)Mortality after bereavement: An analysis of mortality rates and associations with mortality 13 years after bereavement.International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 9: 445–459.

Keywords: Mortality; bereavement; social factors; elderly

Abstract

The mortality rates of a national sample of 505 elderly people who were widowed in 1979 were analysed.

Over the 13 1/4-year period analysed, 62% of the sample had died. Although earlier analyses had indicated excess mortality in the first 6 months of bereavement for men aged 75+, there were no other significant excess mortality rates over the 13 1/4-year period. Mortality was analysed in relation to the demographic characteristics of the whole sample and in relation to the inerview data on physical, social and psychological characteristics of the responders in 1979. Logistic regression analysis showed that age, sex and functional ability were the strongest predictors of mortality, and frequency of telephone contacts was only significant for the younger widowed.

2. Social relationships and mortality risk: a meta-analytic review.Holt-Lunstad J, TB, Layton JB.PLoS Med. 2010 Jul 27;7(7):e1000316. Review.PMID: 20668659Free PMC Articlehttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2910600/?tool=pubmedhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2910600/pdf/pmed.1000316.pdf

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The quality and quantity of individuals' social relationships has been linked not only to mental health but also to both morbidity and mortality.

OBJECTIVES: This meta-analytic review was conducted to determine the extent to which social relationships influence risk for mortality, which aspects of social relationships are most highly predictive, and which factors may moderate the risk.

DATA EXTRACTION: Data were extracted on several participant characteristics, including cause of mortality, initial health status, and pre-existing health conditions, as well as on study characteristics, including length of follow-up and type of assessment of social relationships.

RESULTS: Across 148 studies (308,849 participants), the random effects weighted average effect size was OR = 1.50 (95% CI 1.42 to 1.59), indicating a 50% increased likelihood of survival for participants with stronger social relationships. This finding remained consistent across age, sex, initial health status, cause of death, and follow-up period. Significant differences were found across the type of social measurement evaluated (p<0.001); the association was strongest for complex measures of social integration (OR = 1.91; 95% CI 1.63 to 2.23) and lowest for binary indicators of residential status (living alone versus with others) (OR = 1.19; 95% CI 0.99 to 1.44).

CONCLUSIONS: The influence of social relationships on risk for mortality is comparable with well-established risk factors for mortality. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.

-- Al Pater, alpater@... -- Aalt Pater

[Guest guest]

The benefit works for friendships, clubs, and other social groups and connections. One need not be married.

On 2/8/11 8:59 PM, " Al Pater " <old542000@...> wrote:

Being a widow(er), I checked the reference (41) in the (2) below paper, but the same author updated results, in a pdf-availed (1) paper, in a 13.25 years follow-up study and these results were: " Although earlier analyses had indicated excess mortality in the first 6 months of bereavement for men aged 75+, there were no other significant excess mortality rates over the 13 1/4-year period. ... Logistic regression analysis showed that age, sex and functional ability were the strongest predictors of mortality, and frequency of telephone contacts was only significant for the younger widowed. "

The (2) paper is free full-texts.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/07/AR2011020703564.html <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/07/AR2011020703564.html>

1. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Volume 9, Issue 6, pages 445–459, June 1994

Bowling, A. (1994)

Mortality after bereavement: An analysis of mortality rates and associations with mortality 13 years after bereavement.

International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 9: 445–459.

Keywords: Mortality; bereavement; social factors; elderly

Abstract

The mortality rates of a national sample of 505 elderly people who were widowed in 1979 were analysed.

Over the 13 1/4-year period analysed, 62% of the sample had died. Although earlier analyses had indicated excess mortality in the first 6 months of bereavement for men aged 75+, there were no other significant excess mortality rates over the 13 1/4-year period. Mortality was analysed in relation to the demographic characteristics of the whole sample and in relation to the inerview data on physical, social and psychological characteristics of the responders in 1979. Logistic regression analysis showed that age, sex and functional ability were the strongest predictors of mortality, and frequency of telephone contacts was only significant for the younger widowed.

2. Social relationships and mortality risk: a meta-analytic review.

Holt-Lunstad J, TB, Layton JB.

PLoS Med. 2010 Jul 27;7(7):e1000316. Review.

PMID: 20668659

Free PMC Article

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2910600/?tool=pubmed <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2910600/?tool=pubmed>

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2910600/pdf/pmed.1000316.pdf <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2910600/pdf/pmed.1000316.pdf>

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The quality and quantity of individuals' social relationships has been linked not only to mental health but also to both morbidity and mortality.

OBJECTIVES: This meta-analytic review was conducted to determine the extent to which social relationships influence risk for mortality, which aspects of social relationships are most highly predictive, and which factors may moderate the risk.

DATA EXTRACTION: Data were extracted on several participant characteristics, including cause of mortality, initial health status, and pre-existing health conditions, as well as on study characteristics, including length of follow-up and type of assessment of social relationships.

RESULTS: Across 148 studies (308,849 participants), the random effects weighted average effect size was OR = 1.50 (95% CI 1.42 to 1.59), indicating a 50% increased likelihood of survival for participants with stronger social relationships. This finding remained consistent across age, sex, initial health status, cause of death, and follow-up period. Significant differences were found across the type of social measurement evaluated (p<0.001); the association was strongest for complex measures of social integration (OR = 1.91; 95% CI 1.63 to 2.23) and lowest for binary indicators of residential status (living alone versus with others) (OR = 1.19; 95% CI 0.99 to 1.44).

CONCLUSIONS: The influence of social relationships on risk for mortality is comparable with well-established risk factors for mortality. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.

-- Al Pater, alpater@... <mailto:alpater@...> -- Aalt Pater