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Health & Fitness | July 27, 2009

A happy marriage reduces risk of heart disease

Kathleen Blanchard's photo
Charlotte Health and Happiness Examiner
Working toward a happy marriage can significantly reduce heart disease risk. According to Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D., F.A.C.C, an unhappy marriage is as dangerous to heart health as other known risk factors that lead to heart disease. Dr. Sinatra is a Cardiologist who knows all too well how stress can lead to heart attack. A happy marriage reduces our risk of heart disease by reducing stress and negative emotions.
“Stress is a killer, whether it comes from a job or a relationship. I've had many patients who worked at the wrong job for years and then had a heart attack”, warns Sinatra. “While staring up at the ceiling in intensive care they went through an almost religious catharsis as they realized that the stress of their work put them in the hospital. Likewise, I have had both men and women in intensive care make the same connection about a wrong marriage”. The experience of a happy marriage keeps hostility, sadness and anger at bay, reducing the chances of heart disease and heart attack.

An unhappy marriage leads to loneliness, also a risk factor for heart disease. Married people have been shown to have less risk of heart attack, but an unhappy marriage is a recipe that can spell disaster for heart health. Surveys of people in their 80’s and 90’s have shown that a happy marriage is one of the secrets to a long life.

A study performed in 2006 by Tim Smith, a University of Utah psychologist, revealed the relationship between heart disease and unhappy marriages. Smith conducted interviews with married couples, gauging interactions as hostile, dominant, submissive or negative versus friendly. One hundred fifty healthy couples were enrolled in the study.

The couples underwent CT scans to measure plaque buildup in the coronary arteries. The scans measured risk of heart disease. The results showed that "women who behaved in a hostile and unfriendly way and who were interacting with husbands who were also hostile and unfriendly”, had more calcification in the arteries that provide blood flow to the heart. Couples who were the most hostile had more severe calcification. Smith concluded that hostile marriages seem to increase the chances of developing atherosclerosis that can lead to heart disease and heart attack.

A happy marriage can reduce heart disease risk in ways not previously understood. Dr. Sinatra says, "I've been doing these scans for years. I've had many people with really no physical risk factors for cardiovascular disease but who still have calcification of the arteries just on the basis of stress alone.” Studies continue to show a strong connection between mind and body, and happiness and health. Stress can lead to heart disease. Striving for a happy marriage can lower our risk of heart disease.

Source: Marriage and Heart Health
 

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Charlotte Health and Happiness Examiner

Kathleen is a Registered Nurse, employed in Case Management. Her background includes ten years as a cardiovascular RN, and many hours in caring for...

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