Perfume Masks
Womens' Weight
By Judy Skatssoon
May 16, 2003
THE perfume diet may be the next
big thing after researchers found men think women weigh less if they smell
of flowers than if they smell of pizza.
In fact, a 10-year US study has found that pleasant, floral-spice perfume
makes women appear 5kg lighter in the eyes of the opposite sex.
Other odours, including butterscotch, cigarette
smoke, grapefruit and pepperoni pizza don't have the same effect.
The floral-spice scent acted as "the olfactory
equivalent to vertical lines", said Chicago neurologist and psychiatrist
Alan Hirsch, who presented his findings at a meeting of the Association for
Chemoreception Sciences in Florida.
As part of the study researchers sprayed a 1.75m
tall, 111kg cosmetic saleswoman with a variety of fragrances.
The woman was then sent out on separate days to
approach men in various locations and ask them to guess her weight.
Two hundred males aged between 12 and 61 were
surveyed.
"Wearing a floral spice odour can reduce a woman's
perceived weight by as much as 7 per cent," Dr Hirsch said.
He said the study was consistent with research
showing smells can influence human behaviour.
For example, a previous study had shown women who
smelled of cinnamon and lavender were perceived to be more intelligent,
successful and trustworthy, he said.
Associate Professor Graham Bell, director of the
Centre for ChemoSensory Research at the University of NSW, said Dr Hirsch's
findings should not be dismissed.
"If someone was wearing a pleasant perfume it's
quite possible that an attitude would click into place," he said.
Dr Hirsch said floral odours had been shown to
increase blood flow to the penis, so perception of the woman may have been
influenced by sexual arousal.
Exercise on Par with Viagra for
Some
By
Nigel Glass
VIENNA (Reuters
Health) - A two-year research program
at the Cologne University Medical Center in Germany suggests that specially
designed physical exercises can be as effective as Viagra (sildenafil) in
dealing with some causes of erectile dysfunction.
Basic research had suggested that certain pelvic
muscles could help with erectile problems, so the researchers had expected
their clinical study to show the benefits of exercise, said researcher Dr.
Frank Sommer.
"But we were surprised it was so effective," he
told Reuters Health on Tuesday.
In the tests, 104 patients with mild to medium
circulatory problems were randomly assigned to sildenafil, placebo or a
course of exercise.
Overall, 80 percent of the participants who
exercised reported better erections, compared with 74 percent of those
taking sildenafil and 18 percent of the placebo group, the researchers
found.
The exercise program was aimed at improving the
blood supply around the pelvis, buttocks and upper leg muscles through
squatting exercises and pelvic and leg lifts. Those who took part attended
three weekly sessions.
Direct measurement of the blood flow necessary to
maintain an erection showed substantial increases in men who exercised. The
rigidity of erections improved an average of 46 percent three months after
men started the exercise program.
"Exercise is a realistic conservative treatment
option" for patients with mild to moderate circulatory problems, Sommer
concluded.
The findings, presented at the recent European
Association of Urology, are now being prepared for publication.
Does estrogen make you
smarter?
According to Bruce S. McEwen, Ph.D., Professor of
Neuroendocrinology at Rockefeller University, it definitely makes rodents
smarter. Or, to be more precise, estrogen causes physical changes in
rodents' brain cells that strengthen their memories and ability to learn.
When exposed to estrogen, nerve cells in the hippocampus "grow in
complexity," increasing the connections among nerve cells in the area needed
to store new memories, retrieve older ones and recall location of an object
or event in space. "The study suggests that without estrogen, the
connections that are there don't work as efficiently in storing and
recalling certain types of memories, such as word lists, or remembering
where something is in space," said McEwan. There's a lot more. If you want
to get technical, check out the full story on EurekAlert:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-03/ru-rwc031403.php
Study: Male Sweat Brightens
Women's Moods
Saturday, March 15, 2003 Posted:
1645 GMT (12:45 AM HKT)
PHILADELPHIA,
Pennsylvania (Reuters) --
Sweating it out over a big date this weekend? If you're a
guy, that could be just the ticket, according to a human biology study
released by the University of Pennsylvania.
Biologists said they found
male perspiration had a surprisingly beneficial effect on women's moods. It
helps reduce stress, induces relaxation and even affects the menstrual
cycle.
"This suggests there may be
much more going on in social settings like singles' bars than meets the
eye," said Charles Wysocki, an adjunct professor of animal biology at Penn's
School of Veterinary Medicine.
In a study to be published
in the journal Biology of Reproduction, researchers collected samples from
the underarms of men who refrained from using deodorant for four weeks. The
extracts were then blended and applied to the upper lips of 18 women, aged
25 to 45.
The women rated their moods
on a fixed scale for a period of six hours. The findings suggested something
in the perspiration brightened their moods and helped them feel less tense.
Blood analyses also showed a rise in levels of the reproductive luteinizing
hormone that typically surge before ovulation.
Wysocki, a study co-author,
said the research could point to a "chemical communication" subtext between
the sexes that enables men and women to coordinate their reproductive
efforts subliminally.
There was no sign women
were sexually aroused by male perspiration. In fact, the women never
suspected they had men's sweat under their noses and believed they were
helping to test alcohol, perfume or lemon floor wax.
"The study was done in
quite a sterile environment. It's not strange that they were not thinking
sexual thoughts," said Wysocki. "In a more sensual setting, exposure to
these odors might facilitate the emergence of sexual mood or feelings."
Funded by the National
Institutes of Health, researchers said the study could lead to new fertility
therapies and treatments for premenstrual syndrome if the active agent in
male perspiration could be isolated.
Married Women Have the Best Sex
Last
Updated: 2002-11-12 12:35:50 -0400 (Reuters Health)
LONDON (Reuters) - Forget forbidden flings and passionate one night stands,
it's married women who enjoy the best sex.
Two-thirds of married women say the best sex they've had is with their
husband, compared to 13% who say it was when they were single and just 9%
when having an affair, a survey by health magazine Top Sante said on
Tuesday.
"This survey turns on its head the idea that the best sex is when we are
footloose, fancy free and single," Juliette Kellow, Top Sante's editor,
said.
"The truth is truly great sex and deep intimacy are most likely to happen
within the trusting, committed environment of marriage or a long-term
relationship."
Men will be able to draw reassurance from the findings, based on a survey of
2,000 women across the UK. More than half of women think their partner has a
"gorgeous body", 69% are happy with their man's weight, and 93% are pleased
with his "manhood."
Even after 14 years of marriage, 63% of women still fancy their husband as
much as when they first met and 65% think sex never goes off the boil with
the right man.
But although 95% of women believe being faithful is important in a long-term
relationship, 16% admitted to having affairs.
Most blamed TV shows such as "Sex and the City" for the breakdown of
relationships, with 74% saying such programmes give out the message that
infidelity is normal.
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