It's still cold and flu season, so obviously people are concerned about their immune strength.

And now scientists from Carnegie Mellon have found the simple hug might be a weapon on

the FRONT LINE OF YOUR IMMUNE BATTLE.

Humans are social creatures, we talk, we laugh, we have intricate body language and we hug!!!

YaY! I love a good hug, and this new science says there might be more than one good reason

to get a nice squeeze. It turns out your social feelings weigh far more heavily on your physiology

than you may have thought. According to a study published in last months Psychological

Science, people who are stressed or have ongoing problems in relationships would have trouble

fighting off a cold virus. The peeps at Carnegie Mellon found, those with low QUOTE "social

support" would succumb to cold symptoms more quickly than those with high social support.

They discovered this when they exposed 400 volunteers to cold viruses -- sidebar: they

signed up for this, but still, wow. -- and talked to them about their relationships,

conflicts and if they'd received any hugs that day. Their findings suggest those who

received hugs from a trusted person were less stressed and had less severe illness symptoms.

The researchers think this is because they had a broader social support structure. In

the study, 75 percent of the volunteers developed a cold, but those with higher social support

and frequent hugs recovered better; more hugs, more better.

Firstly, I want to critique a little because they didn't identify what a hug is. The ass-out

hugs aren't awesome. It's got to be like, a real hug, right? I mean, according to a

2003 study a 20 second hug with a partner followed by 10 minutes of hand-holding had

significantly lower levels of stress. And a separate study says a 10 second hug can

provide a physiological response as well, but they never really said. I go for the long

hugs. Like… really long. [[awkward pause]]

Studies have shown hugs lower blood pressure, decrease feelings of loneliness, and improve

cardiac health, because when you hug someone, the hormone oxytocin is released, which makes

both the hugger and the huggee feel good. That oxytocin interacts with the body in a

number of ways, aside from being known as the "love hormone" because it facilitates

bonding, it also boosts chemical release which trigger immune system boosts. That also drops

the levels of stress hormones in the body, which impair immune strength, not to mention

the other things stress can do to the body.

This is extra interesting news, given the recent release by the CDC… This year's flu

vaccine isn't exactly right. Before each season, the scientists use statistics and behaviors

of influenza strains from previous years, to determine which flu viruses will dominate,

and then create a vaccine for those. Last year, the CDC says, the flu vaccine was 60-percent

effective -- which is pretty good. This year though, they missed one. So get hugging. In

the end, giving your friend a hug might be the better than sharing your vitamin C…

and we could all use a little more love, right? Just make sure you're not already sick. That

might be counterproductive.

When it comes to hugs, is it better to give or receive?!