A lousy marriage might literally make you sick. Marital strife and other bad personal relationships can raise your risk for heart disease, researchers reported Monday. What it likely boils down to is stress — a well-known contributor to health problems, as well as a potential byproduct of troubled relationships, the scientists said. In a study of 9,011 British civil servants, most of them married, those with the worst close relationships were 34 percent more likely to have heart attacks or other heart trouble during 12 years of follow-up than those with good relationships. That included partners, close relatives and friends. The study, in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine, follows previous research that has linked health problems with being single and having few close relationships. In the new study, researchers focused more on the quality of marriage and other important relationships. "What we add here is that, 'OK, being married is in general good, but be careful about the kind of person you have married.' The quality of the relationship matters," said lead author Roberto De Vogli, a researcher with University College in London. De Vogli said his research team is doing tests to see if study participants with bad relationships have any biological evidence of stress that could contribute to heart disease. That includes inflammation and elevated levels of stress hormones. Men and women with bad relationships faced equal risks, according to the study. Volunteers filled out questionnaires asking them to rate the person to whom they felt closest on several measures. These included questions about to what extent does that person "give you worries, problems and stress?" They also were asked about whether they felt they could confide in that person, or whether talking with that person made them feel worse. Over the following 12 years, 589 participants had heart attacks or other heart problems. Those with the highest negative scores on the questionnaire had the highest risks, even taking into account other factors related to heart disease such as obesity, high blood pressure and smoking.
| 本周一公布的一份研究报告指出，糟糕的婚姻可能会影响身体健康。婚姻状况不佳等不良的人际关系会增大患心脏病的风险。 科学家认为，这可能主要归结为压力，压力是影响身体健康的一个重要因素，也是不良人际关系的潜在“副产品”。 研究人员对9011名英国公务员进行了长达12年的跟踪调查，其中大多数人为已婚人士。调查发现，在这12年间，与身边的配偶、亲戚、好友关系最差的调查对象突发心脏病及出现其它心脏问题的几率要比关系良好的人高34％。 该研究在本周一的《内科医学档案》上公布。此前的研究主要探讨了单身及亲密关系少对健康的影响。而该项最新研究则更多地着眼于婚姻及其他各种重要关系的质量对于健康的影响。 研究报告的主要撰写者、伦敦大学学院研究员罗伯特•德•沃格里说：“我们的新结论是，‘总的来说，结婚当然是件好事；但你得弄清楚他（她）到底是个什么样的人。婚姻质量很重要。” 德•沃格里说，目前，他的研究小组正在对研究对象进行测试，以确定“关系不良者”体内是否具有与会导致心脏病的压力有关的生物学依据，如炎症、压力激素水平升高等等。 研究表明，无论男女，这几种关系质量较差的人都会面临同样的风险。调查问卷要求调查对象根据几个标准给自己觉得最亲密的人评分，问题包括“那个人给你带来了多大的忧愁、烦恼和压力”。 以及他们是否信赖这个人，或者与此人交谈是否会让他们感觉更糟糕。 调查发现，12年来，共有589名调查对象突发心脏病或出现其它心脏问题。调查问卷负分最高的调查对象患心脏病的风险最高，这其中已考虑到如肥胖、高血压及吸烟等与心脏疾病有关的其它因素。 |
