Marital Status Defines Risk of Heart Disease

Being Widowed Increases the Risk of Heart Disease Tremendously

​Married or unmarried status has started affecting the health status of individuals!!! A new study has found that unmarried patients with heart disease are at an increased risk of death compared to those who are married. The risk of death is greater in widowed individuals. While earlier studies proved the risk between death and divorce, this is the first of its kind to show the link between marital status and heart-disease related deaths in individuals with existing or suspected coronary heart disease (most common type of heart disease).

The study involved more than 6000 patients who were subjected to cardiac catheterization to find out if they were at a risk of coronary heart disease. Catheterization includes inserting a thin, hollow tube known as the catheter into a large blood vessel that makes it way to the heart.

The patients were monitored for 43 months during which 688 patients died from cardiovascular disease and 272 died from a heart attack. Comparatively, being unmarried increased risk quotient of death by 24% from any cause- 45% increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease and 52% increased risk of death due to cardiovascular death or heart attack. A healthy lifestyle too affects the risk of cardiovascular diseases. You can adapt yourself to a healthy lifestyle by getting in touch with a nutritionist/dietitian at www.firsteatrigt.com.

The percentage of death risk differs according to the current marital status- there was 40% greater risk for those who were never married, 41% higher risk for those who were divorced or separated and 71% increased risk if they were widowed.
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The results are greatly surprising as marriage affected the risk of heart disease immensely. The comfort of companionship and the societal support due to marriage are important when people are affected by heart disease. This initiates the need for doctors to check into the marital status of patients when they complain about coronary heart disease.