AN affectionate stroke of the back or neck may bring your loved one far more benefit than just a few minutes’ relaxation.

Scientists have discovered that caressing a woman in a non-sexual way can lower her blood pressure as much as a dose of prescription drugs.

Regular stroking may, the researchers believe, soon be viewed as an important part of a healthy lifestyle. The longer a couple are happily together and the more stroking there is, the greater the benefits.

The finding, however, only holds true for women. As for men, they might as well chill out on the sofa. Stroking has no perceptible effect on their blood pressure.

Doctors have long advised that animal lovers live healthier lives because stroking a dog or cat lowers both stress and blood pressure.

That was a tonic for the one doing the stroking. The new research suggests the one receiving the touch can benefit even more.

Experts say it works best if it is not part of any foreplay — sex can have quite the opposite effect on blood pressure.

The researchers studied 59 heterosexual couples. In each case the woman was asked to sit in a “loveseat” for 10 minutes while she watched a segment of a romantic movie and her husband or boyfriend stroked whatever part of the body they chose, such as the hands, neck or back.

The woman’s blood pressure was measured before and after the physical contact. Stroking stimulated the brain to secrete a chemical called oxytocin which slows the heart down. On average, the women in the study produced 20% more oxytocin after the stroking.

The benefit from stroking was far greater than that from the couple holding hands, lying next to each other or gazing into each other’s eyes.

Oxytocin is a calming hormone which produces effects including stimulating milk release during breastfeeding. Men and women both release it during orgasm.

High levels of oxytocin have been relatively easy to confirm in animals whose brains can be dissected after exposure to stroking, but there has previously been little or no research on men and women.

Kathleen Light, a psychiatry professor at the University of North Carolina’s school of medicine, who led the research, said: “It is a new finding for humans. When a man strokes or hugs his partner it seems to stimulate an increase in levels of oxytocin which tends to lower blood pressure.

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