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(Medical-NewsWire.com, December 06, 2012 ) Victoria, Australia -- A study indicates the stress-lowering effects of regular Swedish massage treatments are not solely in the heads of those who enjoy the popular treatment.
Regular Swedish massage lowers levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, while boosting the body’s white blood cell count, thereby strengthening the immune system. This, according to the research reported by the New York Times and published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine,
The results are "very, very intriguing and very, very exciting - and I'm a skeptic," said study researcher Dr. Mark Hyman Rapaport, the chairman of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
The study involved 53 people, 29 of whom experienced a 45-minute Swedish massage once or twice a week over a five-week period, and 24 others who experienced light-touch massages on the same schedule.
Study subjects were fitted with intravenous catheters in order for blood samples to be taken immediately before the massage and up to an hour afterward.
According to researchers, those who experienced the Swedish massage saw decreased cortisol levels, decreased vasopressin (which is linked with spikes in cortisol levels), increased levels of oxytocin (known as the “trust hormone”), and increased white blood cell counts.
This was not the first time researchers compared the effects of light-touch and Swedish massage. It was, however, the first time they examined the differences in hormone levels with different frequencies of massage.
According to the Mayo Clinic, other benefits of massage include stabilizing blood pressure, alleviating body stiffness and pain, oxygenating blood, and reducing anxiety and depression levels.
Swedish massage is the the most common style of bodywork performed by alternative healers. The primary goal of Swedish massage is the total relaxation of the entire body. The technique involves rubbing muscles with long, gliding strokes in the direction of the blood returning to the heart.
About Full Moon Massage:
Full Moon Massage (http://fullmoonmassage.com.au/) is located in St. Kilda, Melbourne and offers a full range of treatments geared toward relaxation and rejuvenation. Its therapists are trained at Wat Pho in Bangkok, home of Thai massage, which dates back 2,500 years as a Buddhist holistic healing modality.
Full Moon Massage
Customer Service
03 9537 3778
news@postpressrelease.com
Source: EmailWire.Com 
Source: EmailWire.com
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