Marital Stress Increases Heart Disease Among Women But Not Men

Scientists found that being in a strained relationship not only affected the mental health of women but also increased levels of high blood pressure, obesity, and cholesterol – all symptoms that add up to "metabolic syndrome" that can lead to heart disease. But while their partners were equally at risk from depression and stress, they did not show the same affect on physical health, the study shows."We hypothesised that negative aspects of marriages like arguing and being angry would be associated with higher levels of metabolic syndrome," said Nancy Henry, a psychologist from the University of Utah.

"In other words, those who reported experiencing more conflict, hostility and disagreement with their spouses would more depressed, which in turn would be associated with a higher risk of heart disease due to metabolic syndrome. "We found this was true for wives in this study, but not for husbands." The findings, which will be presented to the American Psychosomatic Society's annual meeting were gleaned from a survey of 276 couples, who were married an average of 20 years and from ages 40 to 70.

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