Vascular protection: marriage keeps the heart fit
All content is checked by medical journalists.MunichIf you enter into a bond for life, you are not only doing something for your emotional life, but also for your heart. A large-scale study confirms: Spouses suffer less from cardiovascular diseases. Divorced people in particular seem to be poorly off.
Love is good for the heart - Carlos Alviar from New York University Langone Medical Center and his colleagues have now carried out a study to determine whether this is also to be understood in the literal sense. The special thing about their study: In total, the data from over 3.5 million people were included in the analysis.
The researchers linked the information with the relationship status of the men and women. 63 percent of them were married, 13 percent widowed, eight percent single and nine percent were in divorce. The age of those examined ranged from 21 to 102 years - with an average age of 64 years.
Young married couples particularly benefit
After the scientists had calculated out other known risk factors for heart attacks and the like, it became clear that relationship status actually has an impact on heart health. In comparison to singles, married couples were five percent less likely to develop cardiovascular disease. In contrast, the risk increased by 3.2 percentage points in people whose partners had died. According to the study, divorcees feared for their heart health in particular. Their risk of vascular disease was five percent higher than that of singles.
But the researchers also experienced a surprise: "Married couples benefit especially when they are young," says Alviar. If the couple were younger than 50, they were 12 percent less likely to have cardiovascular problems. Between 51 and 60 years of age, the value was only seven percent. And for over 61 years, marriage only brought about a four percent lower risk of diseases of the cardiovascular system.
Reminder of doctor's appointments
“We don't want to encourage people to get married with our results - but it is good to know that the decision on how to spend your life has an important influence on vascular health,” explains study leader Alviar.
The researchers have not yet found out how the connection between marriage and a healthy heart comes about. It could be, for example, that married couples have a better socio-economic status or simply someone who reminds them of doctor's appointments, for example. However, a life partner may also encourage them to be more conscious of a healthy lifestyle. "Perhaps unmarried people also suffer more from physical and emotional stress, which we know has a negative impact on heart health," says the researcher. Earlier studies had already shown that there was less inflammation in the blood vessels in spouses. These can favor various diseases of the cardiovascular system. (lh)
Source: Carlos L. Alviar et al. Association of Marital Status with Vascular Disease in Different Arterial Territories: A Population Based Study of Over 3.5 Million Subjects; J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014; 63 (12_S) :. doi: 10.1016 / S0735-109761328-0
