Broken heart Living in an unhappy marriage or being single puts you at increased risk of experiencing a fatal stroke, according to new research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference this year.
Researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel looked at a study undertaken in the 1960s, where more than 10,000 men were assessed in terms of heart health. They then investigated further to discover the underlying cause of death for the study participants – details of which had been recorded up until 1997.
What they found was that of the men who had been single in the original study, 8.4 percent had died of stroke by 1997; 1.3% more than married men.
That may not sound like a lot, but when the researchers adjusted the findings, taking into account the men’s age at time of death, as well as lifestyle habits such as smoking and obesity, for example, they found that single men had a 64 percent greater risk of fatal stroke.
The same figures were true of men who described themselves as being dissatisfied with their wives, compared to those who claimed to have happy marriages.