Thursday, October 09, 2008

Stay Calm to Maintain Good Health

According to the article "If You Keep your Cool, You may Heal Faster" in the New York Times, a new study finds that people who are stressed and have trouble controlling their temper may take longer to heal from an injury.

Researchers from Ohio State university say cortisol, a hormone related to stress, seems to interfere with the healing process. The 100 participant study led by Jean-Phillipe Gouin, appears in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. Researchers focused on anger and identifying which patients were more likely to keep angry feelings to themselves and which ones expressed their feelings. They made a blister on each partipant's arm and covered it with plastic to see how long it healed. Those who expressed anger in a controlled fashion and those who did not express it healed quicker. Hot heads were about 4 times more likely to take more time to heal.

Another reason to keep your cool.