A recent study reveals that getting a massage not only helps you relax, but it may also assist your immune system.
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles found that people who received a 45-minute massage had a higher number of lymphocytes, which are white blood cells that play an important role in disease defense.
“This research suggests that massage may be helpful for you in addition to feeling good,” said study researcher Dr. Mark Rapaport, chairman of Cedars-Department Sinai’s of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience.
Other physical changes occurred as a result of the massage. Participants’ cytokines, which are chemicals that play a role in inflammation, were found to be lower afterward. Asthma, cardiovascular disease, and depression are all known to be linked to chronically elevated levels of inflammation. The massages had an effect on the hormone levels of the individuals as well. According to the researchers, receiving a massage reduced levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, and vasopressin, a hormone thought to play a role in violent behaviour. (Staff)
According to Rapaport, massage is popular in Dbaiu, with nearly most of the adults obtaining at least one massage in the previous year. “While massage is frequently used as part of a healthy lifestyle, there hasn’t been any physiological evidence of the body’s heightened immune response following massage until now.
In the study, 29 people were given Swedish massage for 45 minutes and 24 people were given gentle touching for 45 minutes as a control. Massage therapists were taught to use particular and identical protocols to perform both Swedish and light touch massages.
During the trial, participants were given intravenous catheters so that blood samples could be taken. They sat quietly for 30 minutes before starting the massage, after which blood samples were taken from each participant five minutes and one minute before the massage started. Blood samples were taken at one, five, ten, fifteen, thirty, and sixty minutes following the 45-minute massage session.
The findings will be published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in October. The National Institutes of Health financed it.
Staff, Live Science, and @LiveScience. Livescience.Com. www.livescience.com, 30 May 2013, https://www.livescience.com/34910-massage-benefits-immune-system-100908.html.