Is marriage a holy state or is it an antiquated institution? The debate rages on. But one thing that's rarely talked about is the impact that marriage has on health. In For Better: The Science of a Good Marriage, New York Times journalist Tara Parker-Pope has compiled hundreds of scientific studies related to every aspect of marriage… including the amazing impact that marriage relationships have on men's and women's health.
Marriage and Money
In large part, the marriage-health relationship can be attributed to finances. In a marriage, a couple's access to resources is doubled – and in most middle class families, this means an easy path to better health compared to living on a single low income or in poverty.
Married couples also enjoy double the love and practical support from in-laws, relatives, and friends – a non-financial source of health-boosting resources that single people can't always depend on as reliably. With twice the support system, married people are more likely to get help from a spouse or extended family member when they're sick, stressed, or in need of a helping hand.
These two factors contribute to the boost a healthy marriage can give to your health, but they're not the whole picture by a long shot. A big part of the health benefits of marriage come from living in close proximity with another person who cares about you, and who's likely to notice things like the beginning of health issues as they develop – symptoms like unusual fatigue, erectile dysfunction, snoring or excessive water consumption, which can indicate health problems.
How Marriage Improves Health
What kind of health benefits do married people experience? Studies show that married people:
- catch fewer colds
- have fewer heart attacks
- are less likely to develop cancer or arthritis
- have lower blood pressure and stronger immune systems
- are less susceptible to elderly dementia
- have a lower mortality rate than unmarried people in any given year
Why are these differences between married couples and unmarried singles so apparent? The reasons are very different for men and women. Research seems to indicate that, in most cases, women benefit primarily from the financial gains they receive in marriage, and from the stress-busting effects of marriage intimacy and companionship, while men benefit from women's health awareness (and, in some cases, outright nagging) and by "cleaning up their act" once they're no longer bachelors.
The Downside of Marriage, Relationships and Health
On the flip side, of course, studies have shown that a bad marriage is worse than no marriage, especially when it comes to health.
The stress of a bad marriage has a pronounced impact on the heart, roughly equivalent to the effect seen in lifelong smokers. Even the loss of a good marriage can be harmful. People who live through the death of a spouse or a divorce are 20% more likely to develop chronic problems like heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
And people pick up bad habits from a spouse at least as easily as good habits, which explains why married people are more likely to exercise less and be obese than single people. In fact, studies show that men and women tend to gain weight once they're married, and lose weight when they get divorced or a spouse dies.
Marriage is a source of joy for many people, and a source of pain for others. Clearly, it's also a source of disease or of good health.
Source:
Parker-Pope, Tara, For Better: The Science of a Good Marriage, Penguin Group USA, 2010.
Victoria Anisman-Reiner - Victoria Anisman-Reiner is a freelance writer with extensive experience in holistic health care and animal training.
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