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CNN Live At Daybreak

Is a Good Squeeze Good For Your Health?

Aired March 13, 2003 - 06:27   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Is a good squeeze good for your health? Well, if you have high blood pressure, you'll want to listen up. A simple hug or holding hands may actually do more than just make you feel good.
Here's medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We all know that drugs can help lower your blood pressure. But what about hugs? Researchers decided to try an experiment. They had a group of people give a speech and they monitored their blood pressure and their heart rate while they were giving the speech. And then they decided to take a hundred couples and they put them each in their own rooms.

The couples were holding hands and they were watching a little bit of a romantic video and then they hugged. And then they gave a speech.

The blood pressure and heart rate increases were half compared to the people who gave a speech without having that warm fuzzy experience beforehand.

Now, there are physiological reasons why people's blood pressure would go down after hugging. The reason is that there are stress hormones and researchers know that those tend to go down after an affectionate experience and there are anti-stress hormones that tend to go up.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And I always thought my loved one's blood pressure went up when he hugged me, but apparently not.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired March 13, 2003 - 06:27   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Is a good squeeze good for your health? Well, if you have high blood pressure, you'll want to listen up. A simple hug or holding hands may actually do more than just make you feel good.
Here's medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We all know that drugs can help lower your blood pressure. But what about hugs? Researchers decided to try an experiment. They had a group of people give a speech and they monitored their blood pressure and their heart rate while they were giving the speech. And then they decided to take a hundred couples and they put them each in their own rooms.

The couples were holding hands and they were watching a little bit of a romantic video and then they hugged. And then they gave a speech.

The blood pressure and heart rate increases were half compared to the people who gave a speech without having that warm fuzzy experience beforehand.

Now, there are physiological reasons why people's blood pressure would go down after hugging. The reason is that there are stress hormones and researchers know that those tend to go down after an affectionate experience and there are anti-stress hormones that tend to go up.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And I always thought my loved one's blood pressure went up when he hugged me, but apparently not.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com