A turbulent love life might cause more serious issues for women than just reaching for that tub of ice cream, box of chocolates or soppy DVD.
Alarmingly, hypertension, abdominal obesity, high blood sugar, high triglycerides and low levels of HDL, or “good” cholesterol in women have been linked to the anger, conflict and hostility experienced in rocky relationships. This new research suggests that while these stresses still have an effect on men, for reasons scientists don’t quite understand yet, they appear to take more of a toll on women.
Tim Smith from the University of Nevada in the US is a psychology professor and co-author of this study of women in dysfunctional relationships and has suggested that the difference in the way heartbreak affects men and women may in fact come down to the female view of romance.
“Women are quicker to notice when things are not going well in relationships, more so than men,” he said. According to Smith, women are more troubled by this awareness and are more likely to then work harder at doing something to solve the problem than men. Smith said: “you can look at that as a cumulative burden that is a source of chronic stress.”
The study also suggests that women’s self-identities are more deeply rooted in relationships than men. Nancy Henry, a doctoral student in psychology and the lead author on the study said: “It’s not saying men don’t want close relationships, but it’s saying their ‘self-construe’ is based on things in society at large.”
Heart disease is a lead killer of both men and women, so working to unravel the disparity between the two genders is imporant, researchers say. The study also looked at metobolic syndrome or insulin resistance among these couples because of its relationship to heart disease and the fact that depression — which could be caused by a failing relationship — could induce metabolic syndrome.
Tim Smith said that the research was too preliminary to conclude that women “would lower their risk of heart disease if they improved the tone and quality of their marriages — or dumped their husbands.”
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