A Good Marriage Is Good for Your Health
Researchers have just discovered another reason to be good to your spouse. It turns out that older happy, well adjusted couples are less likely than hostile or controlling ones to damage their hearts from atherosclerosis, also referred to as hardening of the arteries.
With health costs spiraling out of control and the need for good health later in life becoming key not only to survival but to the quality of later life, this finding is really good news. We can affect our health by our attitude.
In a recent study by Professor Tim Smith and other psychologists from the University of Utah, reported in Senior Journal, www.seniorjournal.com, married couples with at least one member between age 60 and 70 years with no prior history of cardiovascular disease were recruited and told to discuss a topic about which they disagreed in their marriage. Then they were videotaped discussing the subject.
Some couples “argued” peaceably. One spouse would offer a suggested solution and the other would follow with “Oh that’s a good idea, let’s do it.”
Other responses that were regarded as “less warm” included “If it’s important to you, I’ll do what you want.”
At the end of the scale were statements such as “I’ll do what you want if you get off my back.”
Comments were rated as friendly versus hostile and submissive versus dominant or controlling. Dominant and controlling comments included “I don’t want you to do that. I want you to do this.” Dominant and hostile comments included “You can be so stupid sometimes.”
Even recognizing that the results were likely a “muted version” of what occurs at home, some couples were conflicted enough to be referred to marriage counseling.
Two days after their discussion each participant received a CT scan to score levels of coronary artery calcification, an indicater of plaque build up in the heart. The results differed between men and women.
For women, calcification or hardening of the arteries was related to level of hostility. Women who were less hostile themselves and lived in a peaceable relationship had lower levels of plaque buildup than those who were hostile. But the worst results for women were for those who not only were angry themselves but also had spouses who were angry. The report did not address whether women who “hold in” their emotions experienced any different result but it would seem that, as long as a wife feels driven by anger, she is at greater risk for heart disease. Peace seems to be the factor.
For men the most significant variable was dominance or control. It did not matter whether men felt they were “henpecked,” or they tried to control their wife. In either case, as long as control was an issue, men were found to experience higher levels of calcification. This seems to say that the man who says “It’s my way or the highway” is at as much risk for coronary artery disease as the one who is frustrated at being unable to control his surroundings. Release from struggle for control seems to be the factor.
Along with these conclusions come some others from another study that can have good news for men. This one from the February 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, also reported in Senior Journal, www.seniorjournal.com, finds that measures of optimism in older men can forecast their future health.
The results of a 15 year study of men in Holland aged 64 to 84 years old who did not have pre-existing cardiovascular disease or cancer showed that those who demonstrated optimism from the beginning of the study and at intervals thereafter, had a 50% lower risk of cardiovascular death. Background information stated that this is consistent with other studies that show greater longevity from all causes for optimistic men.
Finally, if there needed to be another reason to take good care of your spouse, here it is. A study which was jointly sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in the New England Journal of Medicine on February 16, 2006, reported that hospitalization of a spouse for a serious illness places his or her partner at significant risk. The data for the study was collected between 1993 and 2001 and involved half a million couples over age 65.
Unfortunately the type of conditions that seem to cause the greatest stress are many over which no one has control. These include stroke, psychiatric conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s, and hip fractures.
The bottom line for those who have partners, especially those who have been fortunate enough to have married “the good guys” (or “good women”), is to appreciate and enjoy them. Their health can have much to do with your own.
About the Author Janet Colliton
Esquire, Colliton Law Associates, P.C. Janet Colliton has practiced law for over 38 years, 37 of them in Chester County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Her practice, Colliton Law Associates, PC, is limited to elder law, Medicaid, including advice, applications and appeals, and other benefits planning including Veterans benefits, life care and special needs planning, guardianships, retirement, and estate planning and administration.