Marital cohabitation helps reduce heart disease

In one of his popular songs, Frank Sinatra sang, “Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage.” Now with this metaphor to characterize the relationship between conjugal marriage and a healthy heart.

A study conducted in New York under the leadership of Dr. Carlos L. Alviar proves that people who are married have a significantly lower risk of developing diseases of the cardiovascular system compared to those who live alone , are divorced or widowed.

The research team recently presented their findings at the American Heart Association’s annual scientific session.
A number of previous studies have also found a link between conjugal marriage and a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

For example, one recent study found that unmarried women are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease.
But Carlos L. Alviar and his colleagues say their research is the largest of its kind. s, within its framework, they analyzed data from studies of more than 3.5 million men and women from 20,000 medical centers throughout the United States.

All participants in the study were between the ages of 21 and 99. Their risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease were also accounted for, including blood pressure, obesity, smoking history, heredity, diabetes mellitus and blood cholesterol level.

The research team found that the overall risk of cardiovascular disease in people who were married was 5% lower compared to people who lived alone.

In widows and widowers, a 3% increase in risk was found compared to those who were married, and this applies to any type of cardiovascular disease, including peripheral artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, aneurysm of the abdominal aorta and ischemic heart disease, and in divorced people the probability of such an unfavorable development increased by up to 5%.

Distributing the results by age, the scientists found that for people in married cohabitation up to the age of 50, the reduction in risk was particularly remarkable and reached 12% compared to people up to the age of 50 living alone.

Married couples aged 51 to 60 had a 7% higher risk of CVD than people in the same age group who lived alone. And for married couples over the age of 60, there was a 4% lower probability of developing CVD than those who lived without another person in their home.

Scientists believe that doctors should consider the factor “marital status” along with others when determining the risk of developing CVD.

If a patient is recently widowed or divorced, the doctor should be more alert for signs of developing cardiovascular disease. This suggests that marriage provides an “emotional and physical support system” for stressful situations and illness.

“Furthermore, married people can take care of each other by insisting that their spouse eat healthy food, exercise regularly, and take their prescribed medications regularly,” says Dr. Jeffrey Berger.

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“The husband in good health can buy and carry the medicines and provide the eventual transportation of his less mobile spouse” – he adds.

The scientists conclude that due to the large number of participants and the consideration of all risk factors for the development of the WHO, their study provides “reliable and statistically reliable results.