 |
|
|
|
|
Caregiving May Lengthen Life
|
| | | | Related Healthscout Videos | |
|
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 "This study shows that the burden of caregiving can sometimes be lightly born," said Dr. Gary Kennedy, director of geriatric psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. But, he said that the results might be different depending on the type of care a spouse has to provide. Taking care of someone with early-stage Alzheimer's disease, who can still function fairly well and still behaves normally for the most part is much different from taking care of someone in the middle stages of the disease, who may be aggressive or may not sleep well.
Brown believes that the decreased risk of death comes from physiological benefits from caregiving instead of psychological ones. The authors suggest that stress regulation may play a role in this benefit. Helping others is associated with a release of oxytocin, a hormone that may help buffer the effects of stress, Brown explained.
Kennedy said the survival benefit is likely caused by both physiological and psychological factors.
Text Continues Below
"We know that in rat pups that are prematurely weaned, their heart rate plummets, even before they've lost body temperature, so it's not related to cooling or caloric problems at that point. Simply being separated changes the heart rate. Social interactions have a biological impact," he explained.
Plus, he said, having a partner to care for provides structure and a sense of purpose.
More information
Learn more about controlling caregiver stress from the National Women's Health Information Center.
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2
|
Copyright © 2008 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 12/19/2008
|
|
SOURCES: Stephanie Brown, Ph.D., assistant professor, internal medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and researcher, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System; Gary Kennedy, M.D., director, geriatric psychiatry, Montefiore Medical Center, New York City; 2008 Psychological Science
|
.gif)
