Post Date December, 03 2023
Scientists have found that the important acquired factor leading to heart disease - stress - mainly stems from the deterioration of marital relationships or relationships with other relatives and friends. The disharmony of interpersonal relationships, especially the tension and stress caused by family conflicts, can cause significant damage to the heart, leading to arrhythmia, hypertension, blood clots, and immune system disorders, ultimately leading to heart disease.
This survey lasted for 12 years and surveyed 9011 married British civil servants. The survey results show that those who are most dissatisfied with their partners or other family and friends have a 34% higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease during the 12 year follow-up survey compared to those who have harmonious interpersonal relationships. The interpersonal relationships here mainly include spouses, relatives, and friends.
The research results were published in the 8th issue of the Journal of Internal Medicine. Prior to this, the scientific community had always believed that being single or lacking relatives and friends was one of the main causes of health problems. And the latest study focuses for the first time on the quality of marriage and other important interpersonal relationships.
In the study, women aged between 35 and 55 were asked how long on average they would argue with their husbands. Afterwards, volunteers were asked to rank those who had close relationships with them according to their level of intimacy and answer the following questions: To what extent or to what extent did this person cause you distress or stress? Do you feel that you can trust someone? Does it feel bad talking to this person?
During the 12 year follow-up survey, 589 participants developed heart disease or obvious symptoms of angina. Excluding factors such as obesity, hypertension, and smoking, those with the highest negative scores in the questionnaire survey have the highest risk of developing the disease.
Poor emotional life leads to depression and inferiority complex
What we want to emphasize is that generally speaking, entering a marriage is a good choice for individuals, but special attention must be paid to the type of person you choose as your spouse, "said Robert de Vogley, a researcher at the University of London. He stated that the research team hopes to test individuals with disharmonious marital lives to understand whether any biological symptoms generated from this can trigger heart disease. These symptoms include anger and an increase in stress hormones.
Research has found that poor emotional life and other interpersonal relationships can lead to depression and inferiority, which can cause changes in heart rhythm, blood pressure, hormone levels, immune system, and more. After a period of time, these accumulated physiological damages can directly threaten the heart.
Vogley's research also found that although women are generally considered more sensitive to changes in interpersonal relationships, men and women with poor interpersonal relationships face the same risk of developing the disease.
Divorced women have a 50% higher risk of heart disease
%Research also shows that marriage brings greater benefits than previously thought. Married people are much more likely to live longer than single people. However, marital breakdown can have a negative impact on health. Divorced women have a 50% higher risk of developing heart disease in the future than those who have a marriage.
James Cohen, a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States, is also dedicated to studying the impact of social relationships on health, and he believes that Vogley's research has very intuitive significance. However, he believes that the connection between poor interpersonal relationships and heart disease is not very close and difficult to verify. Can we advise those with poor interpersonal relationships to receive treatment for heart disease? They may have other reasons to improve their interpersonal relationships, but definitely not just to prevent heart disease
Cohen pointed out that single people may also suffer from heart disease, so it is not necessary to end a bad marriage in order to prevent it.
Another study on the quality of interpersonal relationships has reached different conclusions. This study found that there is generally no correlation between marital unhappiness and the development of heart disease and other fatal diseases. However, during the 10 years of follow-up, women who remained silent during conflicts faced a greater risk of death compared to those who actively expressed their feelings during family arguments. This phenomenon is more pronounced in males. For men, married individuals have a much lower chance of dying during the follow-up survey period than single individuals.
