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Marital Clashes Can Slow Body's Healing Process
Copyright 2005 Daily News Central
Marital arguments can leave a husband and wife feeling
emotionally wounded, but that's not all. Scientists have
discovered that the stress of a typical 30-minute tiff can
prevent physical wounds from healing by at least one day.
Moreover, couples whose relationships are generally hostile may
suffer longer delays in the healing process -- even twice as
long. This finding, published in the Archives of General
Psychiatry, could have major financial implications for medical
centers and healthcare insurers.
The latest research is part of a thirty-year series of
experiments underway at the Ohio State University's Institute
for Behavioral Medicine Research. The work is aimed at
identifying and then explaining the ways psychological stress
can affect human immunity.
Psychological Preparation
Jan Kiecolt-Glaser, a professor of psychiatry and psychology,
and partner Ronald Glaser, a professor of molecular virology,
immunology and medical genetics, both at Ohio State, say the
findings provide important recommendations for patients facing
surgery.
"This shows specifically why it is so important that people be
psychologically prepared for their surgeries," Kiecolt-Glaser
explains.
"We have enough data now from all of our past studies," adds
Glaser, "to basically suggest that hospitals need to modify
existing practices in ways that will reduce stress prior to
surgery."
Such stress reduction could lead to shorter hospital stays --
with corresponding lower medical bills -- and a reduced risk of
infections among patients, the researchers agree.
Blistering Trial
A group of 42 married couples who had been together an average
of 12 years or more participated in the study. Each couple was
admitted into the university's General Clinical Research Center
for two 24-hour-long visits. The visits were separated by a
two-month interval.
During each visit, both the husband and wife were fitted with a
small suction device which created eight tiny uniform blisters
on their arms. The skin was removed from each blister and
another device placed directly over each small wound, forming a
protective bubble, from which researchers could extract fluids
that normally fill such blisters.
The husbands and wives also completed questionnaires intended to
gauge their level of stress at the beginning of the experiment.
Lastly, each person was fitted with a catheter through which
blood could be drawn for later analysis.
High Levels of Hostility
During the first visit, each spouse was asked to talk for
several minutes about some characteristic or behavior that he or
she would like to change. This was a supportive, positive
discussion, Kiecolt-Glaser notes.
"But during the second visit, we asked them to talk about an
area of disagreement," she says, "something that inherently had
an emotional element."
Both discussions were videotaped, and those tapes were used to
gauge the level of hostility present between the couples. Fluid
accumulating at the individual wound sites and peripheral blood
samples were also taken from each participant.
The researchers then analyzed the data, making the following
observations:
- Wounds took a day longer to heal after the arguments than they
did after the initial supportive discussion;
- Couples who showed high levels of hostility needed two days
longer for wound-healing, compared to couples whose hostility
appeared low.
"Wounds on the hostile couples healed at only 60 percent of the
rate of couples considered to have low levels of hostility,"
Kiecolt-Glaser points out.
Delicate Balance
Blood samples from those highly hostile couples showed
differences as well. The levels of one cytokine -- interleukin-6
(IL-6) -- increased one-and-a-half times over those in couples
considered less hostile.
Cytokines are key elements in the human immune system. They hold
a delicate balance in maintaining the right immune response.
Increased levels of IL-6 at the site of a wound stimulate the
healing process, but those same levels circulating throughout
the bloodstream is a problem.
Sustained higher-than-normal levels of IL-6 have been linked to
long-term inflammation, which is implicated in a host of
age-related illnesses: cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis,
arthritis, type-2 diabetes, certain lymphoproliferative diseases
and cancers, Alzheimers disease and periodontal disease.
"In our past wound-healing experiments, we looked at more severe
stressful events," says Kiecolt-Glaser. "This was just a marital
discussion that lasted only a half-hour. The fact that even this
can bump the healing back an entire day for minor wounds says
that wound-healing is a really sensitive process," she observes.
"This supports our long-held contention that even small changes
in cytokine levels will have a marked effect on health," adds
Glaser.
About the author:
Rita Jenkins is a health journalist for Daily News Central, an
online publication that delivers breaking news and reliable
health information to consumers, healthcare providers and
industry professionals: http://www.dailynewscentral.com
Written by: Rita Jenkins
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