Hot MedFax

Who doesn't want her partner to say, "Hey, you look great in those jeans (and no, they don't make you look fat)"? Well, a new study is saying that the compliment could actually have negative physiological consequences . A team of researchers from Binghamton University recruited 65 married couples and had them engage in two interactions in which each spouse selected a discussion topic about a stressor external to their marriage (e.g. poor physical fitness, the desire to get a new job). Before and after the interactions, spouses separately completed questions about their expectations and appraisals of their partner’s responsiveness during the discussion, according to newswise.com. The researchers took saliva samples from each spouse and measured for cortisol—a hormone that helps regulate stress in the body—at the beginning of the study and after each discussion. The most consistent finding was that observable behaviors when support was given and received...

Admit it.  Seeing 50 likes on our Facebook post thrills us(I'm lucky to see five!). But a new study has found that, for kids, liking something is a lot less stressful than being liked.  Huh? According to newswise.com, liking on Facebook is good for teens' stress levels, but not so much being liked. In fact, teens who have more than 300 Facebook friends have higher levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, researchers say. As we all know, Facebook can have positive and negative effects on us, and teens' levels of the stress hormone, say researchers at the University of Montreal and the Institut universitaire de santé mentale de Montréal.  Too many likes hikes the levels of cortisol.  But teens who act in ways that support their Facebook friends – for example, by liking what they posted or sending them words of encouragement – decreased their levels of cortisol.  Makes sense.  I've always found that it makes me feel good to help others feel the s...

Men blame them for their partners' moods and misanthropy, women for their weight gains and woe. We're talking, of course, about hormones. Now a new study says they're also responsible for cheating.  According to newswise.com, hormones influence unethical behavior. The study found that the endocrine system plays a dual role in unethical acts. First, elevated hormone levels predict likelihood of cheating. Then, a change of hormone levels during the act reinforces the behavior. “Although the science of hormones and behavior dates back to the early 19th century, only recently has research revealed just how powerful and pervasive the influence of the endocrine system is on human behavior,” says author and University of Texas Austin professor of psychology, Robert Josephs.  Researchers asked 117 participants to complete a math test, grade it themselves and self-report the number of correctly completed problems. The more problems they got correct, the more m...