>I recently had someone ask me a question I couldn't answer. What does
>oxytocin do in men's bodies?

Judy, the best person's work to find an answer to this would be Kirsten
Urnas-Moberg from Sweden (I think). She gave several lectures on the
significance of oxytocin at the ALCA Conference last year. I had the
pleasure of listening to the tapes. It's fascinating stuff!

Oxytocin is released (presumably in men as well) when we are touched
(especially on our fronts - backs are for defense), stroked, in a warm
atmosphere, eg in a hot bath or by the fire, and when we eat. It seems that
it is all the pleasurable things! The effects on the body of the oxytocin
are lowered BP, lowered cortisol levels, increased pain threshold, calming
effect, more social feelings, lower response to stress.

I guess it's partly because women, especially mothers, have more oxytocin
that they are calmer, more social, etc than men seem to be!!

Kirsten went on to talk about how this is a physiological explanation for
many things we observe in mothers and babies, like the success of doula
type care of labouring women, skin-to-skin holding, kangaroo care, babies
sucking when being tube-fed, etc. I think she said the effects occur in the
baby as well. So oxytocin is a well-used hormone all round!

******************************************************************
Joy Anderson B.Sc. Dip.Ed. Grad.Dip.Med.Tech. IBCLC
Nursing Mothers' Association of Australia Breastfeeding Counsellor
Perth, Western Australia.   mailto:[log in to unmask]
******************************************************************

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