Friends Cure More Than Heartbreak
By JONIDA SHEGANI
Updated 9:39 AM EDT, Mon, Jun 15, 2009
Ladies, gather your girls and chat the night away (and if you can do it everyday that's even better). Studies show women’s friendships are good for their health.
One study found female baboons whose mothers formed strong friendships with other females, lived longer than those with less social mothers, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Los Angeles.
“Females who raise offspring to a reproductive age are more likely [to] see their genes pass along, so these findings demonstrate an evolutionary advantage to strong relationships with other females,” said professor of the Department of Biology in Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences, Dorothy Cheney.
“The benefits come not from being widely social. It’s about having close social bonds,” said Cheney.
Females who form stronger bonds with their mothers experience higher offspring survival rates, according to Dr. Joan Silk of the University of California.
“The more friends a woman has, the less likely she is to develop health problems as she becomes older,” said Silk.
These are not the only benefits, ladies. Research also shows that there is a strong connection between friendship and joy, and stress management.
“Being able to connect with women on various emotional levels can assit in lowering blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol,” said a Harvard Medical School Nurse’s Health study.
So enjoy that girl’s night out.
First Published: Jun 11, 2009 1:43 PM EDT on NBC Philadelphia
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