“The Benefits of Marriage: Evidence of Couples Lowering Risk of Type 2 Diabetes”

Being married can help prevent type 2 diabetes regardless of whether the relationship is happy, according to research.

Previous studies have shown that happily married couples have a number of health benefits compared to being single, including longer lives, fewer strokes and heart attacks, less depression, and healthier eating.

Now a new study has looked at blood sugar levels, particularly in older people, and found that being married or living together can help keep sugar levels under control.

The results seemed to apply whether the relationship was happy or strained.

Experts from the University of Luxembourg and the University of Ottawa in Canada examined data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging from 3,335 adults aged 50 to 89 who did not have diabetes at the start of the study.

They published their findings in the journal BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.

The study included data from blood samples that measured HbA1c (average blood sugar) levels.

Individuals were asked if they had a husband, wife or partner they live with and were asked questions to explore the level of distress and support within the relationship.

The data showed that 76% of the people in the analysis were married or living together.

The researchers found that relationship quality made no significant difference to average blood glucose levels, suggesting that a supportive or strained relationship was less important than just a relationship.

The researchers concluded: “Overall, our results suggest that marital/cohabiting relationships are inversely related to HbA1c levels, regardless of the dimension of marital support or strain.

“Likewise, these relationships appeared to have a protective effect against HbA1c levels above the prediabetes threshold.”

According to Diabetes UK, more than 4.9 million people in the UK have diabetes.

About 850,000 people live with type 2 diabetes but remain undiagnosed.

Source