A Mother’s Love Overcomes Poverty’s Effect on Health

It is common knowledge that a mother’s love can help make children feel better after they scrape their knee or feel hurt by words of others.  It seems that the effects of devoted motherhood go further according to a study reported in A Mother’s Love Overcomes Poverty’s Effect on Health. 

There seems to be a strong association between warm caring motherhood and the reduction of stress in their children.
The results seem to be lower rates of heart disease and less physical and mental illness that go beyond childhood to all phases of adulthood.

Many diseases and conditions are at least partly the result of an inflammatory process linked to stress.
There seems to be evidence that good mothering strengthens the child’s immune system so that the inflammatory response is reduced.

This study is published in the May 18 issue of Molecular Psychiatry.
A summary (abstract) of the article may be found here.
The full text of the article is only available by subscription. However, it may be available at your local university or hospital library.  If interested in getting the article at a library, don’t forget to call ahead and ask to speak with a reference librarian!