Interesting Facts about Massage and Touch German emperor Frederick II, took a number of newborns from their mothers and gave them to nurses who fed them but did not cuddle or talk to them. All of the babies died before they could talk. Fredrick concluded "They could not live without petting." Duke Professor Saul Schanberg found that rat pups separated from their parents for 45 minutes underwent major internal changes including a large drop in growth hormones. Injections of growth hormones didn't help. But when someone stroked them with a wet paintbrush – mimicking their mother's tongue – the hormone levels went back up. Touch is the first sense to develop in humans, and may be the last to fade. There are approximately 5 million touch receptors in our skin (a single fingertip contains 3000). A touch of any kind can reduce the heart rate and lower blood pressure. Touch stimulates the release of endorphins (the body's natural pain killers) which is why a mother's hug for a child's skinned knee can literally make it better. People with eating disorders who receive massage three time a day for ten days gain weight faster and got out of the hospital six days sooner than those who don't. Elderly people who massage surrogate grandchildren report higher-esteem and better moods. Massage before an athletic event makes the athlete more flexible, enhances speed and power, and makes the athlete less prone to injury. One in five Americans have had a massage from a massage therapist in the past five years and 13% report receiving one in the past year. This is up 8% from the previous year. In 1996, massage therapy and bodywork was officially offered for the first time as a core medical service in the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. At the Games, Nationally Certified practitioners were providing key medical services. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia now regulate the practice of therapeutic massage and bodywork. Washington State is one of these. Consumers spend between $2 and $4 billion dollars annually on visits to massage and bodywork practitioners, totaling approximately 75 million visits each year. The three most often cited reasons for getting a therapeutic massage are relaxation (27%), relief of muscle soreness, stiffness or spasm (13%), and stress reduction (10%). An estimated 20 million Americans receive massage therapy and bodywork each year, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH). Approximately 50,000 massage and bodywork practitioners provide 45 million one-hour therapy sessions each year. Two thirds of Americans have tried at least one form of alternative therapy or treatment for medical conditions. Massage therapy is the third most commonly used form of alternative medicine in the U.S., having been tried by 35% of Americans. Women are more likely than men to have tried alternative treatment. Forty-two percent of Americans have used some type of alternative care in the past. Americans make more visits to see alternative therapists than to see primary-care physicians, spending $21.2 billion.