A new study shows strains and tensions in young adult marriages are linked to worse heart attack recovery. Scientists have called for greater awareness of patients' mental health.
The issue was found to affect women in particular because they are more likely to report severe marital stress than men. Researchers have said the study could pave the way for heart disease to stop being considered a one-organ illness and start being understood holistically - in relation to patients' mental health and personal circumstances too.
They suggested looking at heart disease patients' every day stresses could improve treatment and care, including financial strain and work stresses as well as marital issues. Heart and circulatory diseases cause a quarter of all deaths in the UK, killing 160,000 and causing 100,000 hospital admissions for heart attacks each year, according to the British Heart Foundation.
