Hugs Ward Off Colds

Hoping to get through this winter without a cold? Hug somebody, or persuade somebody to hug you. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are convinced that hugs and other forms of perceived social support can keep people from getting sic, or sicker. A Carnegie Mellon news release reports that the researchers surveyed 404 healthy people, asking them about personal conflicts and the number of hugs they received over a 14-day period. The people were then exposed to a common cold virus, and later monitored for signs of sickness. The envelope please…..The researchers found that perceived social support really did reduce the risk of infection. In fact, hugs were responsible for one-third of the protective effect of social support. Wait, there’s more: among infected participants, greater perceived social support and more frequent hugs were associated with less severe illness symptoms whether or not they experienced conflicts.