Divorce allows you to escape an unhappy marriage. But this decision increases the risk of myocardial infarction. Divorced people are more at risk than people in a relationship.
Are women heartbroken more easily than men? They are in any case more at risk of infarction after a divorce. This is what a study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, a journal of the American Heart Association. Men, on the other hand, suffer less from a first separation.
15,800 people, aged 45 to 80, participated in this study. They filled out questionnaires about their married life and their health every two years, between 1992 and 2010. At the start of the study, 14% of men and 19% of women were divorced. During the follow-up period, a third of the volunteers separated from their spouse.
A stressor
Divorce affects the female sex more. Women are 24% more at risk of myocardial infarction after a first separation. This is not the case for men. From the second divorce, the risk is increased for both sexes. But here again, women are more severely affected (+ 77% Vs 30%). And if remarriage makes it possible to restore men to good heart health, the fair sex is always in anger.
“Divorce is a major stressor, and we have known for a long time that people who are divorced suffer more from the consequences on their health,” said Matthew Dupre, lead author of the study. We have discovered that divorce can have a lasting impact on people’s health. “
Choosing between an unhappy marriage or a divorce is tantamount to hesitating between plague and cholera: a recent study has shown that a poor marriage is associated with an increase in blood pressure. This time, it is the men who are most affected.
.