In ancient Rome, the marital bed was only a place for sexual congress and not for sleeping, but now marital bed encompasses the sexual congress, sleeping, relaxing, cuddling and having pillow talks.
Sharing a bed with a partner is one issue that has not enjoyed a unanimous standpoint, largely because individuals’ preference differs. It is also one of such issues that have been a subject of discourse.
While some see it as a good thing that should not even be compromised, some others do not embrace the idea, hence, they would rather sleep in separate rooms, or separate beds.
Interestingly, those who agree and those who disagree have their reasons for belonging to either side of the divide. Findings have shown that those who despise the idea cite issues such as snoring, sweating, stealing the sheets and absence of privacy as excuses for not giving it a thought. On the other hand, those who embrace the idea argued that it enhances intimacy, closeness and happiness.
But beyond the aforementioned issues, a study, published in Daily Mail has shown that sharing a bed with a partner is good for the heart. This is beyond the fact that it encourages the feeling of safety and security, especially for the woman.
The researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, United States, found that sleeping on the same bed with someone you love has a protective effect by lowering the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, and boosts the level of the love hormone, oxytocin, which has been found to induce bonding feelings and a healthy heart.
The cortisol hormone had been found to have a link with a protein that can trigger heart disease and depression. This implies that sleeping next to someone you love helps to reduce the likelihood of having such ailments.
“Prolonged periods of elevated cortisol have been linked with an increase in cytokines — proteins involved in inflammation that can trigger heart disease, depression and auto-immune disorders,” the study said.
One of the contributors to the study, Dr. David Hamilton, a scientist, said apart from sexual intercourse, sleeping together, in a happy relationship, is another way to increase the oxytocin levels.
He said, “Sleeping together will increase oxytocin levels, provided you are happy in the relationship. Making love is one of the most reliable ways to produce oxytocin, as is going to sleep, embracing someone or just being physically happy in their company or with the conversation you are having in bed.
“And oxytocin has a super-spiral effect; the more physical contact you have, the more oxytocin you’ll produce, which causes you to want more contact. Oxytocin can have an addictive effect.”
Meanwhile, the lead researcher, Dr. Wendy Troxel, a behavioural and social scientist at the RAND Corporation and an assistant professor of psychiatry and psychology, said sleep is critically important for health and wellbeing of everyone.
She added, “Sleep is a critically important health behaviour that we know is associated with heart disease and psychiatric wellbeing.
“We also know sleep happens to be a behaviour couples engage in together, so it stands to reason it may be an important link with their health.
“And there is extensive literature showing that happily married people live longer, happier, and healthier lives than their unmarried or unhappily married counterparts.”
Troxel explained that another advantage of sharing a bed with one’s partner is that it helps to diagnose or observe the other person’s health problems or sleeping disorder, such as sleep apnoea, which is a condition that interrupts and ceases breathing while asleep, forcing the person to wake up. Heavy snoring is a symptom of this.
She said, “What we do know about couples and sleep is that happily married women have fewer sleep problems than their unhappily married counterparts.
“Couples who are mismatched in terms of their preferences for sleep timing have poorer relationship functioning such as more conflict, less intimacy and less support. Such people will not reap so many benefits.”
The study pointed out that the benefits derivable from the oxytocin hormone go beyond sleeping next to each other. It added that what is important is the bonding between the couples, which could also be through pillow talk, cuddling and even hugging, as simple as it is.
In a bid to reveal the health benefits of hug, some researchers from the University of North Carolina, US, asked 59 women who were either married or had partners to keep a diary of the number of hugs they received over a particular period of time.
When analysing the diaries of the participants and the levels of oxytocin in their blood after the exercise, they found that the women who had received the highest number of hugs had the highest levels of oxytocin, the lowest blood pressure and heart rates.
“Oxytocin’s health benefits include expanding blood vessels, which increases blood flow and ultimately a more healthy heart and system,” it added.
Troxel explained further that women in long-term stable relationships fell asleep more quickly and woke up less frequently during the night than single women because the feelings of safety and security with a partner may lead to more restful sleep.
Also, a chartered psychologist, Dr. Jason Ellis, said women reap more benefits from bed sharing than men, adding that the benefits tend to be psychological rather than physiological.
“The women we studied reported more enjoyable and refreshing sleep when sharing a bed compared to the men, possibly because the women feel more secure and supported, unlike sleeping alone that has been shown to elevate levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
For couples who have different preference between soft and hard mattresses, a chartered physiotherapist at London Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Centre, Sammy Margo, said such couples should buy a mattress in two parts – one half firm and the other half soft. She noted that women’s preference for soft mattress could be due to the soft lumps and bumps they have.
“If your partner is a snorer, go to bed first so that if you are in deeper stages of sleep when your partner joins you, by that time, his or her snoring is less likely to interrupt your sleep,” Margo added.
Other experts advised that those who could not bear sleeping with their partners everyday could do so on weekends and that use of separate blanket, which can prevent sharing temperature, can also be adopted.
Commenting on the findings of the study, a consultant endocrinologist, Dr. Michael Olamoyegun, said even though he had not read the study, the possible explanation would be that being in a relaxed mood reduces the level of cortisol, the stress hormone and increases the level of oxytocin hormone.
He said, “If the study is true, it means if couples sleep together on the bed and there is harmony between them, they would be relaxed and probably won’t be under any stress and if any, it would be reduced because of the relaxed mood, which may in a way reduce the level of cortisol that is produced.
“If the cortisol level goes up as a result of stress, whether physical or psychological, it can cause cushing syndrome, which is when there is a high level of cortisol in the system, and it manifests by elevated blood pressure. Hence, it can cause obesity, diabetes and hypertension, which affect the heart.”
He explained that what the oxytocin hormone does is relaxation of muscles, adding that its main function is in the uterus, to aid child delivery. “It also has some effects on the blood vessel but not as significant as it has on the uterus. So in a way, what it does is to cause relaxation and the blood pressure is not likely to go up at that time, because once there is relaxation, it reduces arterial blood pressure,” he added.
