You’re Breakin’ My Heart, Here!

A new study shows something I’ll bet we all sort of knew going in. People in crap marriages with a lot of strife are more likely to be felled by a heart attack than those who are blissfully happy or going it alone. CBS News says this:

Marriages and close friendships marked by negativity, such as conflict and adverse exchanges, boost the risk of heart disease, according to a new study.

“Those in a negative relationship were 34 percent more likely to have a coronary event in the 12 years of follow-up,” says Roberto De Vogli, PhD, a researcher for the study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Even after taking into account other factors that could contribute to heart disease, such as depression, men and women with negative aspects in relationships still had a 25 percent increase in heart disease risk over the follow-up period, says De Vogli, an epidemiologist at University College London. “We found the effect is there not only for married people,” he says, but also for unmarried people who have negative relationships with close friends.

Bottom line? Live happier, live better, live longer. The CBS piece is here.