A Bad Marriage Can Break Your Heart, Literally

A Bad Marriage Can Break Your Heart, Literally

A bad marriage can be bad for your heart health and increase the risk of developing heart disease or artery disease, research suggests.

Being in a conflicted relationship can lead people, women in particular, to be more likely to develop heart disease compared to those in good marriages, according to a team of researchers from Michigan State University in the U.S. and published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Researchers assessed data from over a 5 year period, including 1,200 married men and women who were aged 57 to 85 when the study started. The participants were part of the National Social Life Health and Aging Project in the U.S. and were surveyed on questions regarding marital quality as well as looking at rates of heart attack, stroke and high blood pressure.

The results showed that as you age, the effects of the quality of a marriage can strongly increase the risk of heart disease as well as contribute to a decline in immune function, for women in particular.

Previous studies on the health effects of marriage have found that people who are unhappy with their spouse could be at higher risk of depression, high blood pressure and even heart disease. Unhealthy habits can also arise due to unhappy relationships, researchers say, such as smoking and drinking.

Heart Disease, also known as cardiovascular disease, refers to a condition that involve narrowed or blocked blood vessels that can lead to a heart attack, chest pain (angina) or stroke. Other heart conditions, such as those that affect your heart’s muscle, valves or rhythm, also are considered forms of heart disease. Many forms of heart disease can be prevented.

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6 comments

  • Bad Marriages is truly a heart breaker. After my divorce I felt heart pain and started to struggle with my health. I had shingles, pain in my legs, pain in my head. Once I started dealing with the fact of being alone I started feeling better. Now I am looking forward to retirement and my future. Thank you for sharing this article

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  • I married my high school sweetheart, went and became an RN and put him through Law School, with help from his father. We lived in Michigan and he went to U of M. He was my BEST FRIEND. We got married and eventually had 2 BEAUTIFUL children together. I gave everything I had to all three of them. He had me move to Florida and gave up his practice as an attorney to flip burgers with his brother in a fishy restaurant. I’m LOST. Am going to write a book entitled “Pawns On God’s Coffee Table”. Susie Senn

    Reply
    • Susie, I’m reading this two years after you posted. I hope you were able to find peace even if you were not able to understand at the time.The thing that stuck in my heart was you said he was your best friend.Most of us live a life time and.never have a best friend and life is so short to never feel that kind of closeness with anyone…My thoughts on what you said was… things happen to people inside sometimes, so complexed that they can’t undersatand theirself, to be able to talk it over with those they love.It had to be very stressful for him to give up what you worked so hard to have together. To me it said a lot for him to want you with him, many men go alone.My hope was he saw a. better future for the two of you together with a more simple life and less stress than. struggling in world that takes our time away from those we love Change is good sometimes.I hope that it was so very good for you both…love to you

      Reply
  • I recently lost a friend due to a heart attack. Each time she spoke of her husband or he was present, she constantly grabbed her chest and massaged it. She always said the mere thought of him made her chest her. Who would have believed it? They were married 31 years with 2 children. They presented to everyone, the last maybe 10 – 12 were very rocky. She had an ordeal with cancer that had been cleared for quite a while, then have a heart attack after a victorious cancer ordeal? Stress causes heart attacks!?!? It’s something to watch out for ladies.

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  • I feel i should share my story because it is an odd one.
    I was always sort of happy feeling young ,i felt very comfortable in life.

    Then as i was again a bit and started to have some rocky relationships,i started to feel more down and stressed about all of life.Now it can be strictly an aging process but i do feel stress and worrying play a huge part in your health.

    When i was younger and feeling on top of the world i honestly did not even believe stress was real,i thought people were a little off in the head.However once you finally feel those very stressful moments you can begin to feel what it is all about.It creates so much of a chemical unbalance it is insane.I had so much adrenaline that i actually went 7 days without sleep then after sleeping pills and a couple days of sleep i went on 6 more in a row with no sleep.

    I ended up losing my license from health issues and it further sent me into depression.Well eventually i over come it all but still feeling down,i get my license back.That is where it hit me hard,i looked at the picture that i had not seen for 18 months and in that short time i looked like i aged about 5-10 years.

    You don’t notice these things living day by day but if you look at a photo of yourself over the years you can really see what stress does.Lack of sleep,lower immune system,often sick ,weak ,depressed it is a chain reaction leading to serious health issues if you cannot get control of it.

    I have to use happy things to keep my mind in check,like comedy and fun movies or some other forms of entertainment that take my mind off of thinking too much.

    Reply
    • Bob, I agree 100% Stress should have it’s own label right along with heart disease, cancer and other Top Leaders for causes of early death…Keep spreading the message, it could save many lives.

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