Cool, Calm and Cohabitating

Blood pressure levels could be positively affected by the quality of a couple’s marriage

By Christina Owens
CTW Features

A wedding band can be more than just a symbol. According to a recent study, a happy marriage can actually lower blood pressure. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a psychologist and professor at Brigham Young University, Provo, Ut., found that men and women in happy marriages scored four points lower on blood pressure tests than single adults with good social networks. “There seem to be some unique health benefits from marriage,” Holt-Lunstad said. “It’s not just being married that benefits health. What’s really the most protective of health is having a happy marriage.”

The study also found, however, that unhappily married people had higher blood pressures than both married and single people. Holt-Lunstad’s research included 204 married and 99 single adults whose blood pressures were monitored with portable devices over 24 hours. During sleep, the blood pressures of the married adults dipped more than those of the single participants. “Research has shown that people whose blood pressure remains high throughout the night are at much greater risk of cardiovascular problems than people whose blood pressure dips,” Holt-Lunstad said.

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