this just in: hug your girlfriend.
In the new study of 76 adults, all married or in long-term live-in relationships, partners who were happy together had significantly higher levels of oxytocin than unhappy couples, says psychologist Karen Grewen of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She reported her findings with colleague Kathleen Light at the American Psychosomatic Society meeting.
They asked each couple to talk privately for five minutes about a situation that brought them closer, then to view a romantic video and hug each other. During these warm exchanges, women's bodies reacted differently from men's, regardless of how happy they were with partners: Their oxytocin levels rose significantly more than men's and their blood pressure dropped. Women's surge in oxytocin also correlated with lower levels of the stress hormone norepinephrine. Oxytocin may trigger changes that protect women's hearts, Grewen says.
(usa today 03.08.04)
as it's reported all over the place that long term relationships do good things to your life spans, boys, it only seems fair. also our hair smells nice.
since jacob was too mortified to remember which song was playing when he danced shirtless at a gay bar last week, i'll happily revise history: it was "what's up pussycat." what's that you say? he was in pennsylvania and i was in new york? oh, hush.
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