A U.S. study shows that an unhappy marriage can weaken the immune system and lead to bad health.
The study, funded by the federal National Institute on Aging, showed that although marriage is generally good for people -- helping them live longer, happier and more prosperous lives -- personal conflict can make people feel sick, The Chicago Sun-Times reported.
For some couples, researchers say, poor health affects how people perceive their marriages. The stress of caring for an ill person or the orneriness of a sick spouse can turn once-happy marriages miserable.
Marital difficulties appear to matter more for our health as we age, noted researchers at the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin.
In their paper, titled "You Make Me Sick: Marital Quality and Health Over the Life Course," researchers analyzed interviews with 1,049 married people, asking them to rate on a 5-point scale how satisfied they were with their marriages.
This is "yet another reason to identify marital difficulties and seek to improve marital quality" because "your very health may depend on it," wrote Debra Umberson, the study's lead researcher.
© Copyright 2006 by United Press International
