Practice Tip: Heart Health and Divorce

Family lawyers may want to add health issues to the list of matters for which we provide guidance in light of a recent study of more than 3.5 million Americans that revealed that divorced couples are more likely to suffer from heart-related health problems as compared with their married counterparts. NYU Langone Medical Center released the results of its study in March 2014. The research analyzed a variety of heart problems, including heart attacks, clogged arteries, abdominal aneurysms, stroke risks and circulatory problems. This was the largest study to assess the link between heart health, marriage and divorce. The study was conducted from 2003 through 2008 in all 50 states. The participants ranged in age between 21 and 99, with an average age of 64. Women made up 63% of study participants. While most participants were Caucasian, the study included a large number of African-Americans (110,190), Asians (71,090), Hispanics (85,308), and Native Americans (103,081) to validate the researchers' conclusions based on race and ethnic origin.

Some of the study's key findings included: married people have a 5% lower risk of cardiovascular disease than single people; divorced people were 5% percent more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease, including peripheral artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm, and coronary artery disease; and younger married people under age 50 had a 12% lower chance of developing a heart related disease than younger single people. The study also found that among risk factors of cardiovascular disease, smoking was highest among divorced people (at 31%) and obesity was most common in single and divorced people (at 31% and 30%, respectively).