MATTERS OF THE HEART AFFECTS THEART HEALTH
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Several previous studies suggest that interpersonal relationships play an important role in physical health , in particular cardiovascular diseases.
Bert Uchino , the University of Utah (Utah , USA) and colleagues enrolled 136 pairs of elderly (mean age 63 years ) in a study in which participants completed questionnaires that measured the quality of marriage in general , as well as support perceived by the spouse.
In particular , the subjects were asked to indicate how useful or inconvenient was the spouse during the periods in which they needed support, advice , favors ... The researchers found that about 30 % of people have seen their partner as a positive support while 70 % perceived their partners as ambivalent : sometimes useful and sometimes useless. Using a CT scanner to check the degree of calcification in the coronary arteries of the participants, the researchers found that levels of coronary artery calcification (CAC) , a key biomarker of the heart, were higher when both partners in the relationship have seen the other as ambivalent. When only one partner was perceived in this way , the risk was significantly lower .
These results were published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science .
" There is a large body of epidemiological research which suggests that our relationships are predictors of mortality , particularly from cardiovascular disease ," says Bert Uchino , and psychological scientist at the University of Utah " But most of the previous work has ignored the fact that many relationships are characterized by both positive and negative , in other words , by ambivalence . "
"The findings suggest that couples who have an ambivalent perception of the partners interact in ways that increase their stress and undermine the potential support ratio . And this, in turn, may affect the risk of cardiovascular disease, " says Uchino .
In the future it would be interesting to explore the relationships that link the relationship ambivalence and levels of CAC, as well as ways to reduce the ambivalence in important social bonds.
Source: Worldhealth
Supplements for cardiovascular health