First off, thanks so much for reading and commenting. And to reward you for that, I am going to give you an answer to your questions that I wish were more positive, but hopefully will be clear.

1. Dopamine and serotonin have not been clinically proven to “make us happy” nor have they been proven to be effected by massage therapy. There is one seriously flawed study, to my knowledge, that claims that massage increases serotonin and dopamine, but since we can’t actually measure these neurotransmitters in our brains (only in our urine, which is not the same thing), and the study has serious methodological problems, there is not evidence that massage therapy effects these neurotransmitters. That said, there is no conclusive evidence, to my knowledge, that massage does NOT effect neurotransmitters. We simply do not know and have no way of knowing at this point. See this post for an excellent explanation about what we know of serotonin (and a somewhat scathing condemnation of pharmaceutical promotion of SSRIS):http://saveyourself.ca/articles/reality-checks/anti-depressants.php

I do not share the author’s abject condemnation of the use of SSRI’s, but I do agree that medical science does not really understand neurotransmitters and has no useful method, as of yet, to test them in our brains. In his post, Paul Ingraham also points out that Dr. Christopher Moyer has said that massage therapy has shown to be effective in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. I have a great deal of respect for Dr. Moyer and I beleive he is onto something with these observations based on clinical studies. If you want to know about specific research that has been done and is fairly well regarded, look to Dr. Moyer’s book Massage Therapy: Integrating Research and Practice available here: http://www.amazon.com/Massage-Therapy-Integrating-Research-Practice/dp/0736085653

2. As to immune system effects from massage therapy, I’d say that since massage therapy, as well as laying down and resting, have both been shown to relax the nervous system, and since many believe that relaxing our nervous systems leads to improved immune system response, you could make this claim. However, is there actual clinical evidence that massage therapy improves immune system response? Perhaps. Perhaps not yet. I did find this somewhat recent study about the effect of massage on some aspects of the immune system: A Preliminary Study of the Effects of a Single Session of Swedish Massage on Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal and Immune Function in Normal Individuals (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.2009.0634). However this was a single study conducted on a very small group of participants. While the results are encouraging, I would not stand behind the claim until more studies have replicated the findings.

I am not anti-massage by any means. And I do think massage can benefit our wellness and health especially regarding the relaxation response. I do think that there is much we will find out in years to come from a scientific viewpoint. My post was more about how without delving too deeply into the science, the benefits of massage therapy can be explained from a cultural and psychological viewpoint in very simple terms. And as many people say in the end we do what feels good. And massage feels good!

Thanks so much,

Sue

Thanks for reading and commenting! Healthy snacks are important not only to help us maintain our energy levels but also to allow us to more easily digest our food. Too much sugar makes us hyper and then when the insulin kicks in too much too fast…we crash.

Thanks again for reading and commenting! Happy blogging!
Sue

Thanks for reading and commenting! Keep stumbling and finding new content you like!

Sue

Thanks for reading and commenting!

Sue

Thanks for reading!

Sue