Marriage may help prevent heart disease

Married people have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease when compared with those who are single, divorced or widowed, according to research from New York University's Langone Medical Center.

The association between marriage and reduced risk for heart problems is even greater before age 50.

"These findings certainly shouldn't drive people to get married, but it's important to know that decisions regarding who one is with, why, and why not may have important implications for vascular health," Dr. Carlos L. Alviar, lead investigator, said in a press release.

More than 3.5 million men and women between the ages of 21 and 102 were included in this study, the largest of its kind. Alviar and colleagues assessed their marital status and analyzed the rate of four types of cardiovascular disease - peripheral artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm and coronary artery disease, which is the most common.

Overall, 69.1 percent (2.4 million) were married, 13 percent (477,577) were widowed, 8.3 percent (292,670) were single and 9 percent (319,321) were divorced. Those who were married had a 5 percent decreased risk of cardiovascular disease compared to unmarried people.

Researchers speculate that the support system married couples have my explain their healthier hearts.

"People who have a spouse might be more compliant with medical appointments, screening processes, more compliant with medications and a healthy lifestyle as opposed to people who are by themselves," Alviar said. "And being alone also produces not only psychological stress but physical stress, and that might be a risk factor."

The protective effects of marriage were greatest for the under-50 populace, who had 12 percent lower odds of any vascular disease. This number drops to 7 percent for people ages 51 to 60 and only 4 percent for those 61 and older.

"Of course, it's true that not all marriages are created equal, but we would expect the size of this study population to account for variations in good and bad marriages," Alviar added.