Bad marriage equals a bad heart

Oct 9 2007

According to a new study a bad marriage or bad relationship could be bad for your heart.

The researchers who conducted the study say those in a negative relationship are 34 percent more likely to have a heart attack.

The epidemiologists at University College London, Britain, found that even after taking into account other factors that could contribute to heart disease, such as depression, men and women with negative aspects in their relationships still had a 25 percent increase in heart disease risk.

Researcher Dr. Roberto De Vogli says the effect is there not only for married people, but also for unmarried people who have negative relationships with close friends.

Other research has also found that social relationships, including marriage, are associated with better health and less cardiovascular disease; but Dr. De Vogli says there are contradictions in the findings on the health benefits of social support and the limited protective effects of being married on heart disease risk among women.

De Vogli says for the study they looked at the quality of social relationships rather than the quantity.

The research team questioned 9,011 British civil servants with an average age of 45 about four of their close personal relationships, but in particular their primary relationship.

The participants completed questionnaires either between 1989 and 1990 or 1985 and 1988.

De Vogli says more than 64 percent named their spouse as their primary relationship, while unmarried respondents and others cited close personal friends.

The questions asked about the amount of emotional and practical support respondents received from their relationships and about their interactions.

They were also asked how much stress or worries the spouse or friend caused them in the past 12 months, how much talking to the person made situations seem worse, how much the respondent would have liked more practical help from the partner or friend, and how much more the person would have liked to confide in the partner or friend, along with other questions.

During the 12 year follow-up period, heart disease was reported by 589 men and women of the 8,499 respondents who finished the questionnaires; none of the 8,499 respondents had any history of heart disease at the start of the study.

Those who appeared to have a high level of negativity in their marriage or close friendship, were 34 percent more likely to have a heart problem compared with those with more positive interactions and low level of negativity.

The increased risk dropped to 25 percent after taking into account other variables that could contribute to heart disease such as depression.

An association between the level of practical support or emotional support and heart disease risk was not found.

The researchers suspect people may mentally "replay" the negative interactions which then activate emotional responses such as depression or hostility, thereby boosting the heart disease risk.

De Vogli found the association remained for both men and women and for those in higher and lower social positions but those in lower-grade jobs were more likely to have negative relationships.

It was also found that negative close relationships were less likely in people who were never married.

The study is published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.