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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Husbands and wives: listen up! Being happily married is good for the heart.
A new study from Brigham Young University finds men and women who are happily married have lower blood pressure than singles with supportive social networks. Researchers found unhappily married adults have higher blood pressure than both happily married and single adults. And they were surprised to find a network of supportive friends did not translate into better blood pressure for single adults or those who were unhappily married.
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There seem to be some unique health benefits from marriage, lead researcher Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Ph.D., from the department of psychology at Brigham Young University, was quoted as saying. Its not just being married that benefits health -- whats really the most protective of health is having a happy marriage.
The study had 204 married adults and 99 single ones wear portable blood pressure monitors for 24 hours. The monitors recorded each participants blood pressure 72 times at random intervals.
Results show the blood pressure of married adults -- especially those happily married -- went down more while they were sleeping than in single adults. Previous research shows high blood pressure throughout the night makes you much more at risk for cardiovascular problems than if your blood pressure dips.
The report notes being married helps people give each other emotional support in good and bad times. Dr. Holt-Lundstad also says spouses can promote healthy habits by encouraging each other to see a doctor and to eat a healthy diet.
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SOURCE: Annals of Behavioral Medicine, March 20, 2008
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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