Marriage can be good for your heart. Of course, this depends on the quality of the marriage, so this may not apply to all married couples. According to several studies, married couples are at a lower risk of getting a heart attack. If your spouse encourages you to make beneficial lifestyle changes like exercising regularly, eating better, seeking medical attention before health issues develop into bigger problems, then your risk for a heart attack is much lower.
Heart Health & Our Relationships
It’s no wonder that our heart health is correlated to the health of our relationships. Positive emotions affect our overall health including our heart, so if you are in a happy and loving relationship, that’s good for your heart! Knowing we can depend on our spouse OR significant other to take care of us (in the event we get sick) does boost our emotional health. Research consistently shows that happily married people have lower levels of coronary heart disease compared to divorced, single or separated people. Having that security or social support is believed to be a factor behind the connection between marital status and cardiovascular risk.
Here are 2 heart attack studies we thought you’d find interesting:
A British study that tracked nearly 1 million British patients for 13 years
* Researchers found that married patients who had a heart attack were 14 percent more likely to survive than single patients.
A Finland study followed more than 15,000 Finnish people over the age of 35 that suffered a heart attack
* They found that unmarried men were 58-66% more likely to have a heart attack than married men, and unmarried women were 60-65% percent more likely to have a heart attack than married women (published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology)
Now What….Should I Get Married?
While there are tangible benefits from being in a happy relationship, we are not advocating that everyone run out, and marry the first person they meet just to improve their heart health. The fact is not all marriages are healthy, because not all marriages work out for the best. And if you happen to marry the wrong partner, it will cause you much stress and aggravation – which is bad for your health. If that’s the case, then you might as well stay single.
The Journal of the American Heart Association published an interesting finding from Dr. Arshed Quyyumi, a Professor of Medicine at Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia). He said: “while there is evidence suggesting that divorced people are more likely to die prematurely, it is not clear whether marital status impacts the outcomes in people with heart disease.”
A study conducted by Timothy Smith and Brian Baucom of the University of Utah (published in American Psychologist, the journal of the American Psychological Association) suggested that many of the qualities that make people good at relationships, such as their personality, and level of emotional adjustment, can also make them healthy, allowing them to sleep well, and deal with stress better.
Advice for Everyone: Married OR Single
PLEASE make sure you pay attention to your heart health. CLICK HERE to read some very practical ways you can improve your heart health. If you think you are experiencing a heart attack, don’t hesitate to call 911.
