Love is the new cure for cold! For ME?

The other day I was reading this article on the Bangalore Mirror about how "Love" helps to cure some of the common illnesses. Science confirms what romantics have known all along - being happily in love means less stress, lower blood pressure, FEWER COLDS and FASTER HEALING.

Is love powerful enough to lower one's blood pressure, reduce depression and speed the healing of an injury? Well, science says, yes it is!

"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." A recent study has 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.

So think before you leap into the realm of marriage.

SPOUSES ENCOURAGE PREVENTIVE CARE

Loving spouses tend to encourage preventive care, reinforce healthy behaviors such as exercise and flossing, and dissaude unhealthy ones, such as heavy drinking and smoking. Romantic relationships also can provide a sense of meaning and purpose in life that can translate to better self-care and less risk taking. An MRI brain scan test of people at various stages of the romantic journey: newly in love, in long-term relationships and recently rejected, has consistently found, that feelings of love trigger the brain's dopamine-reward system. Dopamine is a powerful neurotransmitter that affects pleasure and motivation.

So now we all know that Dopamine is, at any time, better than Cocaine ;)

A HUG'S MEDICINAL VALUE

Hugging and hand-holding 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. If being in love makes you happy, it may also have another welcome health benefit: fewer colds. It is also found that those who tend 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. A happy marriage may also speed the rate that wounds heal. It is found that a married couple's 30-minute positive, supportive discussion sped up their bodies' ability to recover from an injury by atleast one day.

So all those single people out there, just get yourself a huggable toy. The others, strictly stick to your huggables only!

A dear friend told me once; "Darling, when you're married, you will have no illness what-so-ever. The only thing that might trouble you for a while will be your morning cold. But don't worry, gradually that will also go away.". I know my injuries are healed, healed for life! No more scars, no more lingering pain, no more sleepless nights.

Love is the best medicine!