A study led by a Michigan
State University sociologist has found that older couples in bad
marriages, especially wives, have a higher risk for heart disease than
those who are happily wed.
The study, funded by the
National Institute of Aging, was recently published in the Journal of
Health and Social Behavior and sought to examine whether marital quality
is related to risk of heart disease. It also looked at whether gender
or age influenced the relationship between marriage and heart health.
Michigan State's Hui Liu
and co-researcher Linda Waite, a sociology professor at the University
of Chicago, analyzed five years of data from more than 1,000 married men
and women who were participants in the National Social Life, Health and
Aging Project. The participants ranged in age from 57 to 85.
Respondents completed
surveys about the state of their marriages as well as lab tests and
information concerning their heart health, including strokes, high blood
pressure and heart attacks.
The researchers found
that a bad marriage causes more harm to the heart than a good marriage
offers positive benefits to cardiovascular health. The risks increase
the older you are, according to the study, and the quality of the
marriage has more of an effect on women -- possibly because they tend to
internalize unhappiness more.
And because the immune
system declines as we age, heart issues due to marital stress can be
even more severe, it seems. Those sad love songs about heartbreak aren't
just for young lovers.
"Marriage counseling is focused largely on younger couples," Liu said on her university's website.
"But these results show that marital quality is just as important at
older ages, even when the couple has been married 40 or 50 years."
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