The researchers then analyzed the data, making the following observations:

- Wounds took a day longer to heal after the arguments than they did after the initial supportive discussion;

- Couples who showed high levels of hostility needed two days longer for wound-healing, compared to couples whose hostility appeared low.

"Wounds on the hostile couples healed at only 60 percent of the rate of couples considered to have low levels of hostility," Kiecolt-Glaser points out.

Delicate Balance

Blood samples from those highly hostile couples showed differences as well. The levels of one cytokine -- interleukin-6 (IL-6) -- increased one-and-a-half times over those in couples considered less hostile.

Cytokines are key elements in the human immune system. They hold a delicate balance in maintaining the right immune response. Increased levels of IL-6 at the site of a wound stimulate the healing process, but those same levels circulating throughout the bloodstream is a problem.

Sustained higher-than-normal levels of IL-6 have been linked to long-term inflammation, which is implicated in a host of age-related illnesses: cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, type-2 diabetes, certain lymphoproliferative diseases and cancers, Alzheimers disease and periodontal disease.

"In our past wound-healing experiments, we looked at more severe stressful events," says Kiecolt-Glaser. "This was just a marital discussion that lasted only a half-hour. The fact that even this can bump the healing back an entire day for minor wounds says that wound-healing is a really sensitive process," she observes.

"This supports our long-held contention that even small changes in cytokine levels will have a marked effect on health," adds Glaser.

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