STRESS AND IMMUNE SYSTEM: MASSAGE RELIEVES THE FORMER AND STIMULATES THE LATTER

The practice of massage helps to regulate and decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol and to increase lymphocytes by promoting immune system activity.

Massage is as old as the world.
It has always been used not only to give a sense of peace and relaxation, but also to relieve pain and gain benefits at muscle level. However, several studies have shown that massage can act at an even deeper level, potentially affecting hormonal production and the immune system.

In a preliminary study by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, it was found that massage is able to lower levels of cortisol, the so-called stress hormone.
Professor Mark Hyman Rapaport, president of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at C-SMC commented on the results of the study, published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, as being very interesting and exciting.
In fact, researchers found that the practice of massage manages to reduce levels of this hormone, which has been linked to the activity of the immune system. Cortisol “plays a key role in the production of white blood cells and the activity of the immune system,” explains Rapaport in the C-SMC note.

The study involved a group of adult subjects between the ages of 18 and 45, who were initiated into a programme that included either 45 minutes of Swedish Massage Therapy or a simple light massage. The study period lasted 5 weeks and involved a once or twice a week massage, depending on the subjects.
At the end of the study, researchers found that participants undergoing Swedish massage hadlower levels of cortisol and interleukin (IL), and at the same time higher levels of oxytocin – the good mood hormone – and lymphocytes, than volunteers undergoing light massage.

Based on the results of the study Rapaport and colleagues conclude that massage such as Swedish Massage can be useful in controlling not only stress hormone levels, but also ‘have implications for the management of inflammatory conditions and autoimmune diseases’.

Fonte: La Stampa