Marriage is good for heart; according to cardiologists americans

According to New York researchers , for married people, the risk to develop a cardiovascular disease is lower than that of single.

Marriage is beneficial and good for heart, according to a vast American study which suggested that married people have less risk of cardiovascular disease than single, widowed or divorced. "The results of the study should certainly not encourage anyone to marry in a precipitate or hasty way"  emphasizes the main author of these works, Dr Carlos Alviar of the faculty of medicine Langone of New York University. "But it is nevertheless important to know if people live alone or as a couple because this may have important consequences for their vascular health." The study produced from the medical records of more than 3,5 million people aged 21 to 102 years on the whole of United States was presented at the annual conference of American College of Cardiology (ACC) meeting in Washington.

Small studies made previously had reached the same conclusions. But they explain, the extent of this latest research has allowed for the first time to establish the respective risks for four vascular pathology (peripheral arterial disease, cerebrovascular, the coronary artery and the the abdominal aortic aneurysm) in function of different family situations. The cardiovascular risk as traditional hypertension, the smoking, the diabetes and obesity were similar compared to the whole American population, according to the authors.

Greater risk of vascular pathology for widowed and divorced

The authors have been able to establish due to data adjusted to the age, sex, and race, other cardiovascular risk, a link between marital status and the risk of contracting arterial diseases and the heart, a finding made among women as among men. As Well, for married people the risk of all cardiovascular diseases was 5 per cent lower compared with single ones. The probability of suffering an aneurysm of the abdominal aorta, from cerebrovascular diseases and arterial diseases in the legs were reduced by 8%, 9% and 19% respectively. The risks of coronary disease were also lower among married people compared to those who were widowed or divorced. However there was no statistically difference in relation to unmarried subjects used as a reference group for this study.

On the other hand, the divorced or widowed had a greater risk of vascular disease compared to single and married ones. 'For widowers this risk was 3% greater for all vascular diseases and 7 % higher for the coronary heart disease', have determined these researchers. The divorce was linked to larger probabilities to suffer from all Vascular Pathology: aneurysm of the abdominal aorta, disease of the coronary artery and cerebrovascular accidents. "The link between marriage and a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular diseases has been more marked among more young people which was a surprise", emphasizes Dr. Alviar.

For less than 50 years, being married translates into a decrease of 12 per cent of  risk of all vascular diseases, indicates this research. This figure is only 7 per cent for people from 51 to 60 years old and only 4% for those aged 61 years and more. These data have been collected from people who have participated in a fee program for screening of cardiovascular diseases in more than 20,000 sites in the 50 U.S. states between 2003 and 2008. The authors note that the study includes a relatively low proportion of participants belonging to racial and ethnic minorities which may limit the significance of results.