戀愛有奇效,竟然能降血壓,緩解疼痛,過敏

Falling in love can make the world seem a better place — but it can also have a major impact on your health.
戀愛能讓世界看起來更美好，還可以增強體質喲。

A wealth of new research has found that romance can help improve a range of conditions, from high blood pressure to pain and allergic reactions.
諸多試驗發現，戀愛能緩解多種症狀，比如高血壓、疼痛和過敏反應。

Falling in love is the result of activity in 12 areas of the brain working together, according to researchers at the University of Western Virginia in California. They say the first changes in brain activity begin within one-fifth of a second of becoming smitten.
加利福尼亞西弗吉尼亞大學研究人員說，戀愛是大腦12個區域共同作用的產物。陷入愛河時，大腦的第一個變化在五分之一秒內就會發生。

There is a surge of chemicals such as dopamine, which helps to regulate emotional responses, and oxytocin, the ‘cuddle hormone’ that induces feelings of trust and reduces anxiety.
化學物質多巴胺增加，幫助調節情緒；催產素，這種“親熱荷爾蒙”能帶來信任感，減少焦慮。

This may explain why a study in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that people in love tend to have lower blood pressure.
這就能解釋《行爲醫學年鑑》中的一項研究，該研究表示戀愛中人們血壓較低。

It is thought hormones released by touch are likely to play a role — pressure centres in the skin are in contact with the brain through the vagus nerve, which runs down the body.
觸摸會釋放荷爾蒙，荷爾蒙很可能參與了血壓活動，皮膚中的血壓中心通過迷走神經和大腦相連，迷走神經由上至下分佈。

One theory is that stimulation of the vagus triggers an increase in oxytocin.
刺激迷走神經能增加催產素。

‘Important life events, such as falling in love, have profound physiological effects as well as emotional ones,’ says Professor Sir Cary Cooper, a psychologist at the University of Manchester.
曼切斯特大學的心理學家凱莉教授說：“人生中像戀愛這樣的重大事件對心理狀態和情緒有深遠影響。”

‘The immune system, hormones and many other factors are likely to be involved.’
“免疫系統、荷爾蒙和其他很多因素也因此變化。”

Falling in love can also have an effect on our ability to fight off infections. Research from a study of 50 women found that those who fell in love during the two-year study had genetic changes linked to higher concentrations of compounds that attack viruses, reported the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.
戀愛還對抵抗疾病有影響。某研究調查了50位女性爲期兩年的狀態，兩年中處於戀愛的女性基因發生了變化，這種變化和高濃度的混合物有關，而這些混合物能抵抗病毒。期刊《心理神經內分泌學》如實報道。

Romance can improve your pain threshold, too. Researchers at Stanford University in California used brain scans to assess responses to pain — in the form of a hot probe on the hand — while people looked at photos. When they looked at a picture of their loved one, self-reported pain dropped by 40 per cent. There was no such drop with pictures of an acquaintance.
戀愛還能緩解疼痛。加州斯坦福大學的研究人員通過掃描測試大腦對手接觸發熱傳感器的疼痛反應，實驗者同時會看到戀人的照片，結果表明疼痛感當下下降了40%。但是隻是看熟人照片疼痛感並無下降。

Meanwhile, hugging your loved one can lower blood pressure and reduce heart rate due to increased levels of oxytocin, according to a study in the journal Comprehensive Psychology.
期刊《綜合心理學》研究表示，和戀人擁抱時催產素增加，同時血壓和心率降低。

Another study at the University of California showed that people who were regularly hugged by their partner were less likely to be depressed or anxious.
加州大學的實驗也表明經常擁抱戀人的人不太容易沮喪或焦慮。