How being married cuts risk of heart attacks for women

Being married cuts your risk of having a heart attack and makes you more likely to survive cardiac arrest if it does happen - especially if you're the wife. A new study reveals single and divorced people have the highest risk of fatal attacks at any age, with a greater chance of dying before getting to hospital. 

 The study is significant as most research suggests marriage may protect the health of men more than women. Experts say the benefits come from a positive effect on lifestyle, with married couples having more money, better health habits and social support than singles. 

Unmarried people are also more likely to suffer depression, which has been shown to hamper recovery from heart attack. The large study from Finland found the benefits occurred as early as middle age, with couples who were married and cohabiting more likely to survive heart attacks at any stage. 

The study, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, looked at information on people over the age of 35 living in four geographical regions of Finland. Lower levels of depression was identified at a factor that could help recovery All fatal and non-fatal cardiac events - known as acute cardiac syndromes or ACS - were included. The register recorded 15,330 ACS events including heart attacks over the study period of ten years, with just over half (7,703) resulting in death within 28 days.

 Events occurred almost equally among men and women, but they were 58-66 per cent higher among unmarried men and 60-65 per cent higher in unmarried women, than among married men and women in all age groups.

 The differences in deaths before 28-days were even greater, being 60-168 per cent higher in unmarried men and 71-175 per cent higher in unmarried women, than among married men and women.

 The 28-day death rate was roughly doubled for never married, single or divorced men and women aged 65-75 years compared with those who were married. Wives came off best, with death rates of just 20 per cent compared with 32 per cent in divorced women and 43 per cent among spinsters aged 35-64 years. The rates for men aged 35-64 were 26 per cent for husbands, 42 per cent in divorcees and 51 per cent for bachelors.