Study with over 1,000 Americans: Helping others can have a good effect on your health

When it comes to helping others and your health, it may be better to give than to receive, suggests a new study.

Researchers surveyed more than 1,000 Americans between 34 and 84 years of age for their social involvement and how they felt they could rely on their family, friends, or marriage mates if they needed help.

Positive social relations were accompanied by lower inflammation only among respondents who said they were available to provide social support to family and friends.

It could happen that when people believe they can give more support to friends and family, these relations are especially useful and stressful relief, which reduces inflammation,” said associate psychology professor and co-author of the study, Baldwin Way, in a press release from Ohio State University.

In other words, having people who support you may not help your health unless you are also there when they need you, according to findings, Upi writes, broadcast Clankosova.tv.

Positive relations can only be linked to lower inflammation for those who believe they can give more support to those relationships, said lead author Tao Jiang, a doctoral student in psychology at OSU.

He also said preliminary data suggests that the link between providing social and health support is stronger in women.

This reflects the idea that social relations are often seen as more important to women than to men. But we need to study this matter further. ” tha Jiang

He said that while the study examined only what people said they were willing to do and not their current actions, it gives “a more under-recognition” of the link between health and relations.

The findings were recently published online in Brain, Behavior and Imamity magazine.