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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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How Is Marriage Linked To Heart Disease? Past evidence has indicated that marriage could have an apparent health benefits, though the results had not been consistent. Bad marriage, for instance, could lead to higher stress hormones and inflammation that increase the risks of heart disease and other ailments. As a matter of fact, a study in 2006 by psychologist from University of Utah found a link between heart disease and unhappy marriages. After conducting interviews with married couples and gauging interactions as hostile, dominant, submissive or negative versus friendly, he concluded that hostile marriages appeared to raise the likelihood of developing atherosclerosis that can lead to heart disease and heart attack. Recently, researchers from MedStar Washington Hospital Center in the United States found more evidence that marriage might have health benefits. The findings revealed that singles were more than twice as likely to die and to experience major cardiovascular events like heart attacks, in the year after angioplasty even after adjusting for other cardiovascular risk factors such as family history, smoking and high cholesterol. Data of 11,216 patients gathered over 18 years through telephone contact or clinic visits were analyzed. The patients’ average age was 64. 55 percent of them were married while 45 percent were not married, widowed or divorced. 65 percent of the singles were men.
The study looked at those patients who had angioplasty to clear blocked coronary arteries, either to stave off a heart attack or as a result of already having had one. It was found that high cholesterol and family history of heart disease were more common among married individuals. Singles, on the other hand, were more likely to have major heart problems, including death, heart attack or need for another procedure in the year following their angioplasty. Published on October 4, 2013 in journal ‘American Heart Journal’, the paper argued that the trend began right after patients underwent angioplasty: 1.1 percent of single patients dying in the hospital, as compared with only 0.4 percent of married ones. Within a month, 3.1 percent of singles versus 1.2 percent of married patients had major cardiovascular events. At the end of one year, 13.3 percent of singles had major cardiovascular events, compared with 8.2 percent of married patients. Singles were also more than twice as likely to die of any cause. Meanwhile, the findings also showed that benefit of marriage was more pronounced for men than women. In general, the singles were sicker before their procedure, for example, they were more likely to have had a heart attack. According to researchers, it is possible that healthier people tend to get married, or that spouses take care of each other better than singles, or that the social and emotional support of a spouse has positive physiological effects. A partner might assist the patient adhere to medications or exercise regimens, too. In an earlier study published online on August 22, 2013 in ‘Health Psychology’ (a publication of the American Psychological Association), researchers from the School of Nursing at the University of Rochester reported that happily married patients who underwent coronary bypass surgery were more than 3 times as likely to be alive 15 years later than singles. Marriage advantage, however, behaved differently for men and women. For men, marriage was generally linked to higher survival rates and the more satisfying the marriage, the higher the survival rate. But for women, the quality of relationship was the determining factor: unhappy marriage did not offer any survival benefit for women, but satisfying relationships raised a woman’s survival rate by almost 4 folds. Importance of ongoing relationship for both men and women was highlighted in this study. Supportive spouses would most likely encourage healthy habits, including regular exercise or smoking cessation, that are essential for long-term survival from heart disease. Marriage also provides patients with sustained motivation to care for oneself and a strong reason to stick around so they can stay in the relationship that they like.
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