Getting hitched may just save your life. According to new research, marriage may actually help prevent certain health conditions. Previous studies have found that happy marriages bring a range of health benefits compared to being single, including living a longer life, fewer strokes and heart attacks, less depression and healthier eating.
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And now a new study has added to that list after discovering nuptials may actually help prevent Type 2 diabetes. The research examined blood sugar levels particularly in older people and found that being married or living together helps keep sugar levels under control, regardless of whether the relationship is happy or not.
Experts from the University of Luxembourg and the University of Ottawa in Canada examined data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing on 3,335 adults aged 50 to 89 who did not have diabetes at the start of the study.
The study included data gathered from blood samples which measured HbA1c (average blood glucose) levels.
It asked participants whether or not they were married, or had a partner they lived with, and also asked questions that would help examine the level of strain and support in that relationship.
76% of people in the analysis were married or living together, according to the data.
It was found that the quality of the relationship didn’t make a massive amount of difference to the average levels of blood glucose. What made a key difference was whether someone was in a marriage or not. The researchers concluded: “Overall, our results suggested that marital/cohabitating relationships were inversely related to HbA1c levels regardless of dimensions of spousal support or strain.
“Likewise, these relationships appeared to have a protective effect against HbA1c levels above the pre-diabetes threshold.”
Their findings were published in the journal BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.
More than 4.9 million people in the UK have diabetes, according to Diabetes UK, and some 850,000 people are living with type 2 diabetes but are undiagnosed.
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