The Secret to Healthy Living with Hepatitis C

I am surrounded by people who have hepatitis C. Many of them live with relentless pain, fatigue, and other discomforts. I seem to be doing better than most of the hepatitis C-positive people I meet, and I always wondered why. Then I discovered research that may shed light on a possible reason—cussing. Yes, unleashing those 4-letter words may have health benefits.

A study published in August 2009 NeuroReport found that swearing increases pain tolerance. I am a champion curser. I know that this is not acceptable in polite circles, but when it comes to pain, I swear like a sailor. Now that I know that expletives may help me, I am not going to delete them.

It is curious that someone decided to study this. I can only imagine what the study design looked like. Picture being a subject in this study, and being told that you would be randomly assigned to one of 2 groups. Everyone would get his or her fingers hammered. The test group could say the “f-word.” The control group would have to say, “Ouch.” I’d be kicked out of the control group…

 "Old Hammer" image courtesy of Keerati / FreeDigitalPhotos.net