13% lower risk of death compared to single women.
“These findings suggest that widowed or divorced men, and single women, maybe most in need of support in order to help minimize their individual risk of dying from these conditions,” Metin Avkiran, associate director of the British Heart Foundation, said in a foundation news release.
The findings come from an analysis of marital status and death rates of more than 1.8 million people treated for heart disease in Northern England between 2000 and 2014.
Lead author Dr. Rahul Potluri is a clinical lecturer in cardiology at Aston Medical School in Birmingham. He said when it comes to heart disease, focusing solely on a patient’s medical problem is not enough.
“It’s important we look into providing holistic care and explore other factors, such as their support network, which can also have a big impact on a person’s health,” Potluri said in the news release.
He and his colleagues discussed their findings at a meeting of the British Cardiovascular Society, in Manchester. Research presented at meetings is typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
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SOURCE: British Heart Foundation, news release, June 4, 2019