Love and its all-encompassing powers are endless and the world definitely can’t stop talking about it, even when it’s well past Valentine’s Day. If the findings of a recent study are to be believed, a recent study found that that showing affection can be beneficial in warding off a cold!
Bizzare? Yes! True? Probably! The new study that is published in the journal, Psychoneuroendocrinology found that falling in love is associated with increased activity of certain genes, particularly ones involved in antiviral defences. In other words, love could help us fight off viruses like colds and the flu.
For the study, the team studied 47 women who were given weekly questionnaires and had their blood taken over 24 months, depending on their relationship timeline. To be eligible to be a part of the study, women had to be in a new relationship, which was defined as seeing someone for less than a month.
It was observed that women who fell in love over the course of the study had increased activity of the immunity genes, as opposed to the women who did not fall in love.
"This could reflect a kind of a proactive response to anticipating future intimate contact, given that most viruses are spread via close physical contact," said Damian Murray, lead author of the study and assistant professor at Tulane's School of Science and Engineering.
"However, this increased activity of antiviral genes is also consistent with the biological preparation of the body for pregnancy. From this women-only sample, both of these interpretations remain possible."
Murray concluded that love probably isn't the antithesis of loneliness, as there were no significant changes in self-reported loneliness or depressive symptoms when women fell in love compared to when they started the study.
The team also want to look into the effects on both men and women, to be able to "map the physiological changes that accompany the initiation and progression of human romantic relationships."
