Scientists in a UCLA study recently concluded that friendshipsbetween women may reduce the risk of heart disease and lower bloodpressure, heart rate and cholesterol.
Researchers also found that women who had no friends over asix-month period increased their risk of death, while another studyconcluded that women who had loving friendships with other womenover a nine-year period cut their risk of death by more than 60percent.
"There's no doubt friends are helping people live longer," saidLaura Cousin Klein, assistant professor of Bio-behavioral Health atPenn State University. "Women are a natural source of strength forone another."
The study showed women do not respond to stress in thetestosterone-induced "fight or flight" method common among men.Rather, women experiencing stress release the hormone oxytocin,which buffers the "fight or flight" mechanism and insteadencourages tending to children and gathering with other women.
"This is so significant because women have been traditionallyignored in stress studies," Klein said in the study. "But this hassignificant implications for women's health."
Many women at The University of Memphis agreed with the healthbenfits gained by same-sex friendships.
"When you have good friends around you, you just feel betterabout yourself and your life," said Sahdiyah Al-Maleki, sophomoredance and theatre major. "They really do relieve my stress and makeme happy."
Al-Maleki's best friend, Lala Shegog, sophomore communicationsmajor, said she feels the same way.
"We have known each other for years," Shegog said. "It makes mefeel good to know I have a support system."
The calming response of oxytocin-induced friendships does notoccur in men, Klein said.
"Testosterone, which men produce in high levels when they'restressed, seems to reduce the effects of oxytocin, while estrogenseems to enhance it."
That is why men who are stressed usually go into a corner alone,while women gather, she said.
This could be one of the reasons women consistently outlive men.The "tend and befriend" behavior of women could be the reason forthe significant reduction in physical impairments as they age,Klein said.
In fact, some results show that not having close friends orconfidants is as detrimental to a woman's health as smoking orcarrying extra weight, Klein said.
