Being tough can be good for health, study says

It is quite common nowadays to read news about the famous bullying and its consequences on people who are victims of this type of violence. However, according to The Verge, a group of researchers decided to check the effects of this behavior on bullies, that is, bullies who terrorize others.

According to the publication, a study presented in a leading scientific journal has shown that being a bully - especially for those who have never been bullied - can actually bring health benefits compared to people who have never been involved in such behavior.

Pure Bullies

The researchers found that "pure bullies" - that is, bullies who have never been bullied - have lower levels of a protein called c-reactive, which indicates the occurrence of inflammatory processes. This feature, as the scientists involved in the study explained, could mean a reduced risk of developing conditions such as metabolic syndromes and cardiovascular problems.

In the study, the researchers followed 1, 000 children from the North Carolina region over a 7-year period. During this time, participants had blood samples collected and were interviewed, answering questions such as whether they had been bullied in the last 3 months. This monitoring allowed scientists to analyze changes in c-reactive protein levels.

According to the scientists, another interesting result was that the bodies of the participants who were bullied and bullyed showed no positive or negative inflammatory effects, showing the same result as people who did not engage in such behavior. In other words, mixed actions - being bully and victim - seem to counteract the good or bad effects on health.

Stress

Researchers have not yet figured out exactly what causes this change in c-reactive protein levels, but suspect that stress from bullying and abuse can affect how the body reacts to long-term stress. That's because these violent experiences can release doses of cortisol - a stress-response hormone - too early and too often during childhood.

As a result, the body's stress response system would become unregulated, leaving the body more vulnerable to inflammation. However, pure bullies do not experience - or suffer from - such stress. On the contrary: the researchers pointed out that bullies enjoy an increase in social status.

Scientists have made it clear that having high levels of c-reactive protein does not necessarily indicate poor health, but that this factor should be understood as a sign of potential problems in the future. Also, with the study, researchers are not suggesting that children should start terrorizing others.

After all, there are many other ways to strengthen the body against the occurrence of inflammatory processes, such as playing sports, participating in social activities and being part of clubs, for example.

* Posted on 17/05/2014