Study: Married Couples Become Each Other

According to a new study published in the journal Nature Immunology, the physical similarities between married couples might become very deep.

Researchers in Belgium took blood samples from 70 healthy married couples and then tracked their immune system responses over the next six months. They wanted to know how the immune system would be affected by the person’s overall environment, which is determined by everything from eating and exercise habits to bouts with the flu.

After analyzing the immune system samples, they found that the married couples had %50 less variation between their cells than the variation between two random strangers. In other words, choosing your mate has major physiological implications on top of the obvious emotional ones.

Even though this particular study only looked at married couples vs. strangers, the authors hypothesize that the same effects probably occur for couples that cohabitate but haven’t gotten married yet.

Source: Women's Health Magazine