How Falling In Love Affects The Immune System Of Women - Research, Quality Of Life

2023 Author: Oswald Adamson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 20:18

Women in love have an increased activity of genes that provide antiviral protection of the body

Many of us have felt the influence of the mysterious power of love. Scientists, in turn, have proven that falling in love has undeniable physical benefits for both men and women. And in a new study, it was revealed exactly how the period of falling in love affects the immune system of women.

Falling in love is one of the most important and psychologically powerful events in a person's life. Yet the physical consequences of a new romantic love on the human body remain poorly understood. In a three-year study, a team of researchers from Tulane University and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) teamed up to study the complex relationship between falling in love and changes in genes that affect immunity.

“We have found that women in love have increased activity of genes involved in antiviral defense,” said team leader Dr. Murray. Such changes were not observed in women who did not fall in love. This may reflect a kind of proactive response to anticipated future intimate contact, given that this is how most viruses spread. However, this increased activity of antiviral genes is also in good agreement with the biological preparation of the body for pregnancy. Both of these interpretations of the study results are possible."

Several years ago, Dr. Stephen Cole gave a keynote lecture on the epigenetic and health consequences of chronic loneliness, confirming the results of research that loneliness is harmful to health and is a major contributor to death. This suggests that love may be the flip side of this lonely epigenetic profile.

Is romantic love the real antithesis of loneliness? The answer to this question has been obtained in new studies

Dr. Murray stresses that "they wanted to find out if love in a new romantic relationship was associated with health and a supportive immune-supporting epigenetic profile."

Throughout the year, extensive research was conducted among undergraduate and graduate students of the university. It focused only on women. A total of 47 people completed the study, which included blood tests and Q&A testing. Depending on the duration of the couple's relationship, the women participated in the study for up to 24 months.

The work involved only healthy women who did not use drugs and entered into "new" romantic relationships. A "new" relationship was defined as meeting someone within a month, with participants having to report if they weren't already in love with their partners. Overall, this two-year study made it possible to fairly accurately assess changes in gene expression throughout the relationship with the opposite sex.

The "purity" of the experiment was ensured by a preliminary check of all participants. It wasn't easy. More than half of the women who were screened beforehand met with someone for a month and reported that they were in love with them. Verbal assurances were further confirmed by two basic blood tests and a questionnaire to answer specific questions related to life events. When a project participant reported that the relationship was broken, a third blood test was performed. All these actions have repeatedly confirmed the assumption that falling in love is a kind of defense mechanism of the immune system.

It became possible to formulate another, rather psychological, conclusion that the subjectively new romantic love is not the antithesis of loneliness. There were no significant changes in the self-esteem of the study participants during the period of falling in love.

In the future, scientists are going to study the long-term medical consequences of love over a long period. Both women and men will participate in this study

Dr. Murray himself said the following: "Ultimately we want to map the physiological changes that accompany the onset and development of romantic relationships in a couple, and see how they affect health in general and the epigenetic consequences of love."