Originally published July 17 2005
Marriage helps people stay healthy, study says
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A columnist for the Wall Street Journal comments on a recent study that found those who are divorced or widowed suffered more chronic health conditions that people in marriages.
When my creaky joints ache in the morning, I blame a lot of things -- too hard a workout at the gym, drizzly weather, advancing age.
It never occurred to me to blame my divorce -- until now.
A study to be released next week at a national marriage conference shows that being divorced for long periods is linked to higher rates of chronic illness and loss of mobility later in life.
Coining a new term, "marital biography," to denote your entire lifelong experience with marriage, divorce and remarriage, the study's co-authors, University of Chicago's Linda Waite and Duke University's Mary Elizabeth Hughes, will show how that history has a cumulative effect on health.
Indeed, your marital biography has an even bigger impact on long-term health than whether you are married or divorced at any particular time.
People who were married at the time of the study and had never been divorced or widowed had 20 percent fewer chronic conditions, based on participants' reports of doctors' diagnoses, than individuals who had been divorced, after controlling for age, gender and race.
That suggests the stresses of divorce and its aftermath have health effects that may not show up in a person until years later.
That increases by 6 percent the number of chronic health problems I might expect to develop, compared with my risk if I'd never divorced.
Obesity was the only exception, appearing more often in marrieds than singles.
(Married guys in particular tend to be overweight.)
Married adults also were less likely than widowed or divorced people to report they were in fair or poor health.
Mr. Ramirez felt "keyed up," he says, and went to his doctor for help coping.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml