Why Women Are the Real Losers in a Divorce

Divorce may not only break a
woman's heart; it might also give her heart disease.

Scientists said recently that a failed marriage is a major
cause of cardiovascular disease in women.

Men, in contrast, were found to escape from a split with their
health unscathed.

The research was based on examining the medical records of
more than 9,000 men and women between the ages of 51 and 61 over an
eight-year period.

It showed that divorce causes higher stress in women than men,
increasing their chances of suffering from heart problems.

Women who had been divorced, widowed or remarried were more
likely to experience the health problems than those who stayed married.

By the age of 60, the
risk of heart disease was about 50 percent higher.

The ill effects are largely due to the economic consequences
and
emotional distress of divorce for women, according to report author,
Zhenmei Zhang of Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

"Women suffer a greater economic loss in a divorce," said Dr.
Zhang. "They also have more vivid and detailed memories of marital
problems than men do."

He said further studies were needed to find why remarried
women
were more likely to have heart disease than continuously married women,
even though their finances were unlikely to be much worse.

Studies have repeatedly found that those who marry live longer
than singletons.

Source: Daily Mail (UK).
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