The 'Language of Love' Good for Marriage -- and Health Aug. 28, 2001 -- Sweet nothings may really add up to something after all -- nothing less than the possibility of good health and a long marriage.

Health experts say positive interactions between couples can boost immunity and reduce the risk of heart disease by keeping stress hormones low. And the kind words and warm feelings can also go a long way toward keeping a marriage healthy.

In a study of newlyweds, Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, PhD, of Ohio State University, found that language can affect cortisol levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone; as stress increases, levels of cortisol increase in the blood.

"Our study showed that ... women are particularly sensitive to negative words," Kiecolt-Glaser tells WebMD. "In fact, women with cortisol increases were two to three times more likely to be divorced within 10 years," says Kiecolt-Glaser, professor and director of health psychology at Ohio State University College of Medicine.

She presented the findings at the American Psychological Association meeting held last year. Her team studied 90 newlywed couples aged 20-37. Each couple shared how they met and discussed a current marital conflict. The couples used significantly more positive words to describe their relationship history and more negative words when discussing their conflict.

Ten years later, researchers contacted the participants to find out their marital status.

Men's cortisol levels during the original discussions did not seem to predict whether they would be married in the future. But the women whose cortisol increased in the earlier interviews were more than twice as likely to be divorced a decade later.

This is why women appear to function as good barometers of marital quality, Kiecolt-Glaser explains. Studies have shown that women have a stronger and longer physical response to marital conflict than men do, often caused just by recalling past events. "And it may explain why women decide, more often than men, whether to mend or end their marriages," she says.

Fortunately, you can learn to discuss marital problems in positive terms. "Even if you're angry, there are constructive ways to work it out," says marriage counselor David Woodsfellow, PhD, director of the Center for Relationship Therapy in Atlanta.