By Virginia “Ginya” Carnahan, APR.CPRC, Director of Marketing & Development, Dattoli Cancer Center & Brachytherapy Research Institute
With apologies to Tina Turner, Love has a lot to do with it when “it” is your health and well-being. In fact, scientists have investigated and researched the impact of human love for centuries. Recall that the early Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse and other societies each had a “love god” in their pantheon? Throughout the ages love has been a popular subject of books, poems, plays, songs and art. “Love one another” is a strong tenant of the Christian religion, as well as most other beliefs. We can’t escape it; love is all around us.
In recent years much has been learned about the health benefits of loving and being in love. All you have to do is google “health benefits of love” and you’ll find hundreds of articles about the connection.
According to our favorite expert on all things, Wikipedia defines love this way:
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment.
Love is also a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection
as well as “the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another.”
Love may also be described as actions towards others based on affection.
Love may be understood as part of the survival instinct, a function to keep human
beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.
Some highlights gleaned from my admitted superficial study of the subject, include these scientific facts*:
1. Love produces positive emotions – love and laughter are positive emotions that have been known to have healing powers for the soul and mental well-being. Love is a very powerful antidote to fight stress, conflict and pain – both mentally and physically. It has the power to heal and renew your mental, emotional and physical well-being. Research shows that loving acts can neutralize the kind of negative emotions that adversely affect immune, endocrine and cardiovascular function.
2. Love helps you live longer and fight disease – Studies have shown that even patients fighting advanced cancer respond better to treatment when they have a strong human connection and/or partner. There are many documented instances of patients surrounded by great love completely recovering from dire disease states with no scientific explanation other than the power of love. The feeling of “butterflies in the stomach” is a physical reaction caused when the body responds to strong attraction, and often accompanies falling in love or being in love with someone. Your heart rate increases causing increased blood flow throughout the body, including the sexual organs. These butterfly feelings have a very positive effect on the mind and body.
3. Love keeps the doctor away – Many studies show that people in loving, long-term relationships typically have longer average life spans than those not in a partnership. Most likely, when you are in a loving relationship, your partner cares about your health and vice versa. You will encourage each other to watch your health and discourage bad habits.
At the National Institute of Health studies have focused on the role of endorphins, the feel-good hormone chemicals created by the human brain. Love triggers the production of the hormone oxytocin that is known to lower stress levels. Human physical contact like cuddling, hugs and kissing, initiates the flow of oxytocin and the result is that comfortable, warm release of tension.
* from “Three Ways Love Benefits Your Health” by Carmelita Ray; World of Psychology, 2012
Apparently we humans are hard-wired for social connection – we all possess a basic human need to belong and to be loved. If you studied freshman psychology, you may recall “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” Abraham Maslow was one of the first psychologists to study the pursuit of happiness. He designed a pyramid outlining the basic human needs for survival and eventual “self-actualization.”
In this five-step pyramid, the need for love and belonging is right in the middle, above physical needs (shelter, food, etc.) and safety. It comes one step beneath esteem and the pinnacle of
self-actualization (happiness).
Fulfilling this human need is rewarded with a flood of hormones including dopamine which evokes the feeling of positivity, pleasure, energy and well-being. Stress hormones are reduced, the immune system is strengthened, blood pressure is lowered; there is a greater resistance to the common cold, faster recovery from injuries and decreased anxiety and depression.
Among the interesting studies I found was one from the Department of Health and Human Services in 2007, looking at the health effects of matrimony. (Mind you, in today’s world being in a committed relationship doesn’t necessarily mean being married.) This study found that married people are happier, live longer, drink less and even visit the doctor less often than unmarried people. Married couples tend to have health insurance which encourages preventative care and healthy behaviors. Additionally married couples were more financially stable, which reduced stress. A 2004 study from the Centers for Disease Control found that mortality rates were lowest in married couples.
While many of these studies concentrated only on married couples, there is no reason to think that the same benefits would not apply to others in positive, committed relationships.
A few other gems from my study include that being in love can help you get physically fit. You may know that fully 50% of people who start an exercise program alone will quit before one year. However, if partners start a program together two-thirds will stick it out. Even more impressive is the fact that both men and women will work 12-15% harder when training with a romantic partner.
From fitness trainer and nutritionist Jay Cardiello.
Other studies suggest that being in love may clear up skin blemishes! People say you have a healthy glow when you are in love. New York City dermatologist Genaise Gerstner, MD, explains that when stress levels are lower there is less free-floating cortisol, which is one of the causes of stress-induced acne.
Arthur Aron, a social psychologist at Stony Brook University has studied the science of love for years. He uses brain scans to track responses to new love, long-term relationships and recently rejected love. He equates the euphoria of new love (the brain’s dopamine reward system) to winning the lottery! His 2011 article in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience compared brain scans of people who had been married for an average of 21 years with couples who were newly in love. Both groups revealed dopamine activity but only the newer lovebirds also showed activity in areas associated with anxiety, obsession and tension.
My response to this is that a little anxiety, tension – and yes, obsession – may be a small price to pay for all the positive health benefits that come from being in love!
Finally, if you are lucky enough to be in a mutually beneficial love relationship try not to take it for granted. Love needs to be nurtured and fed in order to sustain and grow. Relationships that last are those in which both partners support each other’s personal growth and development. They seek out shared experiences in which they can learn and expand themselves. Writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, in “The Little Prince,” wrote “Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.”
In this, cupid’s month, celebrate love and be well!
Dattoli Cancer Center & Brachytherapy Research Institute
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