Heart disease is also a "marital disease"?

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Heart disease is also a “marital disease”?

Heart disease is also a “marital disease”? Research says spouse’s illness may double the personal risk of illness.

In recent years, it has become more common for couples to suffer from diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, fatty liver and other diseases. At the 70th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Cardiology held recently in 2021, a study led by Chinese scholars pointed out that if a spouse suffers from heart disease, the risk of heart disease will be more than doubled.

Researchers surveyed more than 5,000 couples over the age of 45 who lived in seven regions of China between 2014 and 2016. Participants provided information about their personal and spouse’s personal health history, including risk factors such as body mass index and blood pressure, lifestyle factors such as physical exercise, smoking, and alcohol consumption, as well as socioeconomic factors. The study defined a history of cardiovascular disease as having experienced a heart attack or stroke, and had undergone percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass surgery.

“We found that the risk of a person suffering from cardiovascular disease is related to the health and lifestyle of his wife or husband. In addition to common lifestyle and socio-economic environment and other factors, the stress of caring for a spouse with cardiovascular disease may also increase the heart. The risk of vascular disease.” said Wang Chi, the lead author of the study.

The results of the survey show that the relationship between the spouse’s history of heart disease and personal risk is particularly obvious among men. If the wife suffers from heart disease, 28% of men also suffer from cardiovascular disease, while if the wife does not have a heart disease, the proportion is 12.8%. If the wife has a history of stroke, obesity or smoking, men are most likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease. Researchers believe that women’s prominent role in determining family diet may explain this finding.

In addition, if the husband suffers from heart disease, 21% of women will also suffer from cardiovascular disease, while if the husband does not have cardiovascular disease, this figure is only 9%. If the husband has a history of stroke, women are most likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease.

“Under different cultural backgrounds, women are the dominant lifestyles in most families. Compared with the impact of male risk factors on wives, women’s health status and risk factors seem to have a greater impact on men.” Researcher It is believed that these findings emphasize the necessity of preventive health care for spouses of people suffering from cardiovascular diseases.

Since the research data comes from multiple regions of China with different economic and cultural backgrounds, the results may be similar to trends in other middle-income countries in the world. “In the prevention and control of chronic diseases worldwide, family-centered healthcare has played an important role. Our findings indicate that the health of spouses and their caregivers should be monitored in communities and primary medical institutions.”

It is reported that the researchers also checked the trend of diabetes, but found that a spouse with diabetes does not significantly increase a person’s own risk of diabetes. This finding may indicate that genetic factors and family history of diabetes are the main factors for diabetes risk.

(source:internet, reference only)

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