Posted on 12/02/2005 7:45:58 AM PST by varyouga
ROME (Reuters) - Your heartbeat accelerates, you have butterflies in the stomach, you feel euphoric and a bit silly. It's all part of falling passionately in love -- and scientists now tell us the feeling won't last more than a year.
The powerful emotions that bowl over new lovers are triggered by a molecule known as nerve growth factor (NGF), according to Pavia University researchers.
The Italian scientists found far higher levels of NGF in the blood of 58 people who had recently fallen madly in love than in that of a group of singles and people in long-term relationships.
But after a year with the same lover, the quantity of the 'love molecule' in their blood had fallen to the same level as that of the other groups.
The Italian researchers, publishing their study in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, said it was not clear how falling in love triggers higher levels of NGF, but the molecule clearly has an important role in the "social chemistry" between people at the start of a relationship.
This is yet another extension of the "LUST = LOVE" crap that came out in the 60's.
LOVE has nothing to do with sex. It has to do with the co-mingling of hearts and souls.
Love the one you're with...
Make love, not war...
Love me two times...
Well, I know the difference between LUST and LOVE.
Thank God I found a woman that when the LUST wore off, I still LOVE her because I was pulled into that whole thing as much as most of us.
If they can replicate this molecule it would save a lot of marriages. I would love to feel that way all the time.
You enjoy stuttering, sounding stupid, and thinking you're on the verge of a heart attack?
Interesting. Does the NGF level dip one year after the first love-making session or one year after the couple begins to "date"?
You enjoy stuttering, sounding stupid, and thinking you're on the verge of a heart attack?
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Never felt quite like that. But I do enjoy the anticipation and joy from actaully wanting to be stuck up someone's butt.
We call it Butterflies in the Brain. Now we know what causes it. I do agree that true love is totally different from lust. That is how I explained the "birds and bees" to my kids when they were teens. I told them to make sure they learn the difference between lust and love. I told them "Kissing wears out, Cooking doesn't". LOL But I explained to them that they have to marry someone whom they would enjoy painting the house with and raising children with... not just someone who turns them on sexually. (Been married 32 years to same man, so far). Our kids are all in their twenties. I heard it put very well the other day, "The flame that burns brightest at the beginning, is the first to go out". I warned my daughter to beware of the guy who comes on too strong at first, that doesn't last. I told them to marry someone they get to know as a good friend first, that developes into something deeper and more meaningful. It sure is scary rearing three kids in today's world!
Burgerflickle.
I fell in love w/ my husband again this year. We have been married 6 and together for 8. It is all about discovery I think. Finding something new to love in one another.
I have always said that lust never lasts more than one year.
How often do they test the levels in the long-term couples? Can the levels fluctuate?
Tell that to my 3 year old.
Now we know what Cupid puts on his arrows.
I agree! I was thinking the same thing about my husband this year. We are living in Southern Calif. and having a blast. It is like being young again! I got to thinking about this, what if he were my boyfriend instead of my husband. And I started treating him that way. Like simple things like great dinners, and even ironing his shirts. He loves being spoiled and he returns the favors.
Nature has an answer to this problem: children.
Once you have a baby, you have a full-time job. You can trade your beloved for a child-raising business partner.
Eros love, I suspect, is fleeting. Philia is what couples generally settle into, but I aspire to achieve agape for my fellow man.
Baloney! "Star-crossed" lovers extend that period indefinitely. Assigning a specific time period is "illogical" (i.e. one size certainly doesn't fit all).
Good God, tell me about it. I have a 13 year old Step-Daughter. Beautiful, blond hair, blue eyes 5'7" and still going higher. Her mom is an idiot so it falls to me to teach her the do's and MANY MANY don't's to being a girl in today's world. Scares the wholey bat crap outta me!!
After that first year the listening Particle and Commitment Neuron are supposed to take over!
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