title: Health benefits for women staying with their husbands during a long-term trip to a hot springs spa.
abstract: The authors collected saliva samples from 15 married couples and 13 women staying with a female companion (N = 43) during an 8-day stay at a spa resort in Nagano, Japan. To examine changes in endocrinological stress markers, the authors evaluated participants' levels of salivary cortisol and chromogranin A (CgA) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. By the eighth day, women staying with their husbands had significantly increased levels of cortisol and CgA. During the protocol, the authors observed no significant variation in levels of cortisol or CgA for either the women who were staying with same-sex companions or the male spouses. These findings suggest that the effects of long-term stays in a spa resort are more beneficial for married women staying with their husbands than for either married men or women staying with female companions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Toda
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Makino
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Kanehisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morimoto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D053379:Chromogranin A / Q000032:analysis; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006294:Health Resorts; D020010:Heterosexuality; D045482:Hot Springs; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D018454:Spouses; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology; D014195:Travel; D016387:Women's Health
chemical_list: D053379:Chromogranin A; D006854:Hydrocortisone