In a study of 9,011 British married people, the researchers found that 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 as compared to the ones with good relationships. That included partners, close relatives and friends.
Roberto De Vogli, a researcher University College in London said, ".... 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.
The study, published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, also plans to study if 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.
"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.
Another recent study of nearly 4,000 men and women, which was published online in July in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, looked at quality of relationships but had different results.
Over a 10-year follow-up, the women who keep silent during marital arguments had an increased risk of dying compared with wives who expressed their feelings during fights.
It also found that married men were less likely to die during the follow-up than single men.
De Vogli and his team believe that bad marriage "can activate emotional responses, including depression or hostility, which can boost heart disease risk. The association held for both men and women and for those in higher and lower social positions.
The researchers also found that those in lower-grade jobs were more likely to have negative relationships, he did find, were those in lower-grade jobs. Negative close relationships were less likely in people who were never married.
