Have you ever found yourself chiming to your spouse, “You’re killing me!”? Well, the opposite may be true. Your other half just may be helping you live a longer life (if you can believe it!). There are a few fairly “obvious” reasons as to why having a spouse can help you live longer. You have the company and moral support of a companion, which is something that is imperative to your well-being as well as your psychological health. There’s someone there to take you to the doctor, for example, and loneliness, which is a common challenge for older people, is not an issue for cohabitating couples. There’s also the split cost of living, which can help reduce stress. This can be connected to a lower risk of both high blood pressure and high cholesterol, as studies have shown that those who live together have a reduced risk of heart disease. According to an article inThe Guardian, “Married people tend to smoke less, drink less alcohol and eat more healthily,” says Ploubidis. “Having a joint income also helps, and relationships can provide a buffer against the stresses of major life events.” To back up this point, consider another study carried out by New York University’s Lagone Medical Center, where researchers found that married men and women had a five per cent lower chance of cardiovascular disease compared to single people. Doctors aren’t entirely sure why, but they think that it’s possible that since marriages typically offer a person emotional support, physical and intellectual intimacy, as well as deeper social ties to family, they might lower blood pressure and improve heart health overall (Medical Daily). However, it goes further than that. Marriage alone isn’t necessarily a precursor to a longer life… the quality of the marriage plays a pivotal role in this correlation. Those who were in a “bad” or unhappy marriage tended to suffer from a higher risk of heart-related problems. According toMichigan State University (as reported byMedical Daily), it’s all about how happy the marriage is making you, and whether your relationship is healthy or strained. Also interesting to note – marriage may be more beneficial to men than to women. Scientists have studied the difference in life expectancy between wives and husbands, and found that for men, it is far more advantageous for them to be married than for women. The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock, Germany did a study that was reported inScience Daily, and it put forth that marriage is more beneficial for men than for women – at least for those who want a long life. “Previous studies have shown that men with younger wives live longer. While it had long been assumed that women with younger husbands also live longer, a new study finds that this is not the case. Instead, the greater the age difference from the husband, the lower the wife’s life expectancy. This is the case irrespective of whether the woman is younger or older than her spouse.” So, the next time you’re irritated with your spouse and you’re considering whether to have dessert after dinner, have the dessert. While the sweets may not be great for your life expectancy, your spouse will help offset the negatives, and you just may find yourself able to tolerate the wet towel on the bathroom floor after all. by Jennifer Cox Longevity Longevity and marital status CSANews | FALL 2017 | 39
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