Husbands or wives of people suffering from cardiovascular diseases are highly likely to develop this group of diseases. This was reported by Chinese scientists at a scientific conference of the American College of Cardiology. The organization's press release on the study was published by EurekAlert.
A new study covered more than 5,000 heterosexual couples whose partner age was at least 45 years old. Participants provided information about their illnesses and factors that may influence the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases. The latter include body weight, smoking, blood pressure, physical activity, alcohol use, and socioeconomic factors.
The authors of the study were interested in how often participants in the study developed heart attacks and strokes or needed surgery to treat coronary heart disease.
“We found that a person's cardiovascular risk is related to the health and lifestyle of their spouse. Our study showed that, in addition to general lifestyle factors and socioeconomic conditions, stress from caring for a sick spouse can also contribute,” said Chi Wang of the Center for Heart Health Research in Beijing, co-author of the study.
Scientists noted that it was previously known that the risk of cardiovascular disease is higher in people caring for a spouse after a stroke.
A new study showed that in men whose wives had serious problems with the heart and blood vessels, similar diseases occur in 28% of cases. For men whose wives do not suffer from cardiovascular pathologies, this figure will be 12%. The risk was especially high for men whose wives had a stroke, smoked and were obese.
Similarly, women developed cardiovascular diseases in 21% and 9% of cases, if their husbands suffered or did not suffer from diseases of this group, respectively.
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Scientists indicated that the study participants lived in different regions of China, differing in social and economic plan. Therefore, they believe that the findings can be generalized to all middle-income countries.
The authors believe that healthcare should focus on the health of the whole family. That is, in a family with a «core», doctors must also monitor the health of the spouse who cares for him.