Marriage is an essential factor affecting the survival of patients who have had a heart attack, & also the survival of patients withthe most imperative risk factors, according to research presented today at ESC Congress.1






Researchers based at Aston Medical School in Birmingham, UK, used the Algorithm for Comorbidities, Associations, Length of Stay & Mortality (ACALM) database of patients hospitalized in England between 2000 & 2013 to study the effect of marital status on survival in patients with cardiovascular risk factors or a previous heart attack.

Among the 929, 552 adult patients admitted during the study period, 25, 287 earlier had heart attack, 168, 431 had high blood pressure, 53, 055 had high cholesterol, & 68, 098 had type two diabetes mellitus. Patients were categorized as single, married, divorced, or widowed & followed up until 2013 for mortality.

Of those who had a heart attack, married patients were 14 percent more likely than single patients to live on after the event. Marriage was also protective in patients with the 3 biggest risk factors for heart disease. Married patients with high cholesterol were 16 percent more likely to be alive at the end of the study. The same was true for diabetes & highblood pressure, with married people having 14 percent & 10 percent higher survival, respectively, compared to those who were single.

Though the protective effect of marriage has been shown before, this is one of the biggest studies of its kind. It’s also the first to show that this large beneficial effect isn’t only true in patients who have had a heart attack but in those who have avertable cardiovascular risk factors, which cause up to 80 percent of heart attacks.

Dr Paul Carter, lead author of the study & a researcher at the ACALM Study Unit, said: "Marriage, & having a spouse at home, is likely to offer emotional & physical support on a number of levels ranging from cheering patients to live healthier lifestyles, helping them to cope with the condition & helping them to comply to their medical treatments. Our findings suggest that marriage is one way that patients can receive support to successfully control their risk factors for heart disease, & ultimately survive with them."

"The nature of a relationship is important & there is a lot of evidence that stress & stressful life events, such as divorce, are linked to heart disease," added Dr Carter. "With this in mind, we also found that divorced patients with high blood pressure or a previous heart attack had lower survival rates than married patients with the same condition."

Dr Rahul Potluri, senior author & founder of the ACALM Study Unit, said: "Heart attacks are devastating events. It's important that patients receive the necessary support to cope with them whether it's from a spouse, friends, family or anyone they choose to involve in their care. Doctors need to treat patients in a holistic manner & encourage this as well as the use of support groups & rehabilitation courses."


"Our findings are even more relevant to patients with cardiovascular risk factors who are at particularly high risk in that they are silently living with conditions that increase their risk of a heart attack without experiencing any symptoms," continued Dr Potluri. "It's important that patients with these dangerous, but preventable, risk factors follow the lifestyle & medication advice of their doctors to limit this risk, & social support networks are vital in doing so. This study confirms the importance of these psychosocial factors in patients with cardiovascular disease as a whole."

Source: http://www.civdigitech.com/2017/08/heart-disease-married-couple-have.html