Marriage is Good for your Health/Yet, Divorce is on rise for older couples - 11/26/06

[Smartmarriages]

- GOOD MARRIAGE HELPS HEART PATIENTS SURVIVE LONGER
- WANT TO LIVE TO A HEALTHY 85? STAY TRIM  (And, married......)
- DIVORCE ON RISE FOR OLDER PEOPLE

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- GOOD MARRIAGE HELPS HEART PATIENTS SURVIVE LONGER
November 20, 2006 

KARACHI: Patients of heart failure can live longer depending on how healthy
are their relationships with their spouse.

Heart failure is a complex condition to deal with. The drugs used for heart
failure are continually changing although they are becoming more effective
and patients with heart disease must also adhere closely to a special diet
and monitor their weight carefully.

Social relationship factors may be especially crucial to managing a
difficult chronic condition such as heart failure, which makes stringent and
complex demands on patients and their families.

Researchers from the University of Arizona in Tucson analysed 189 men and
women and found that heart patients who had a higher-quality marriage were
more likely to survive over an eight-year follow-up period. Relationship
quality was more important for women¹s survival than men¹s.

Previously the researchers had shown that those who frequently had useful
discussions with their spouses about the illness and more positive than
negative interactions with their husbands or wives were more likely to be
alive after four years. After four more years, the researchers found, those
factors were still key in determining a patient¹s likelihood of survival,
and they were also more important than individual patient characteristics,
such as level of depression or anxiety or coping skills. There is increasing
evidence that a spouse¹s beneficial effect on their partner¹s health goes
beyond simple emotional support, and involves a collaborative effort of
coping with the disease. However, in some cases, the nature of the
relationship may mean a spouse¹s efforts at being helpful can backfire. The
findings of study appeared in a latest online issue of American Journal of
Cardiology.

 
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- WANT TO LIVE TO A HEALTHY 85? STAY TRIM  (And, married......)
LINDSEY TANNER
Associated Press
November 20, 2006 

CHICAGO - One of the largest, longest studies of aging found one more reason
to stay trim and active: It could greatly raise your odds of living to at
least age 85.

In fact, chances of being healthy in old age are better than even for people
who at mid-life have normal blood pressure, good grip strength and several
other physical characteristics associated with being fit and active.

These include normal levels of blood glucose and fats in the blood called
triglycerides - both also associated with avoiding excess calories and
eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.

Other habits long linked with good health and well-being - avoiding smoking
and excess alcohol, AND BEING MARRIED - also improved chances of surviving
well into the 80s.

The study involved 5,820 Japanese-American men from the Hawaiian island of
Oahu, who were followed for up to 40 years, but the researchers said the
results likely apply to women and men of other ethnic heritage, too.

"There appears to be a lot we can do about modifying our risk and increasing
the odds for aging more healthfully," said lead author Dr. Bradley Willcox,
a scientist at the Pacific Health Research Institute in Honolulu.

"It's good news because it really gives you something to zero in on if we
want to be healthy at older age," Willcox said.

The results appear in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical
Association.

The study shows "that you can still live healthy until age 85 if you live
right," said Dr. Carl Lavie, medical director of preventive cardiology at
Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans.

Most factors the researchers identified as contributing to longevity have
long been associated with healthy living but the study does a good job of
"putting it together in one package" and showing the combined benefits, said
Lavie, who was not involved in the research.

While Japanese-American men tend to be thinner and healthier than the
general U.S. population, Lavie said it makes sense to think that the same
factors that influence their survival would also affect other people.

The study notes that people aged 85 and older are the fastest-growing age
group in most industrialized countries and are among the largest consumers
of health care resources.

Figuring out how to help people remain healthy as they age is thus a major
research priority, the study authors said.

It's also a priority for doctors with middle-aged patients who want to know
how to survive into old age, said Dr. Gary Schaer, a cardiologist at Rush
University Medical Center in Chicago.

"This kind of paper directly affects how I take care of patients," Schaer
said. "It's a really important study."

Study participants were in their 50s on average when the research began;
3,369 or 58 percent died before age 85. Health was evaluated at the start
and then at eight follow-up examinations.

Eleven percent - 655 men - reached a milestone the researchers dubbed
"exceptional survival." That was reaching age 85 without any mental or
physical impairment, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung disease,
Parkinson's disease and diabetes.

The men who had none of nine disease risk factors at mid-life had a nearly
70 percent chance of living to age 85 and a 55 percent chance of reaching
the exceptional milestone.

By contrast, those with six or more risk factors at mid-life had a 22
percent chance of living to age 85 and a less than 10 percent chance of
exceptional survival.

The nine mid-life risk factors were: being overweight, meaning a body-mass
index of 25 or more; having high blood glucose levels, which can lead to
diabetes; having high triglyceride levels, which contribute to heart
disease; having high blood pressure; having low grip strength - unable to
squeeze at least 86 pounds of pressure with a handheld device; smoking;
consuming three or more alcoholic drinks daily; not graduating from high
school; and being unmarried.

"These risk factors can be easily measured in a clinical setting and are,
for the most part, modifiable," the researchers said.

The study was paid for by grants from the National Institutes of Health and
the Hawaii Community Foundation.

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- DIVORCE ON RISE FOR OLDER PEOPLE
The Republican (Springfield, MA)
Sunday, November 26, 2006
By RONNI GORDON

> Divorce among older Americans, those in their 50s and even well into their
> 80s, is increasingly common, leading to a trend called "gray divorce."

Linda L. Spooner was devastated when, after 31 years of marriage, her
husband told her there was someone else and asked for a divorce.

She was in her 50s, "and I thought I was in it for the long haul," said
Spooner, who is now happily remarried. "I thought that was rather old to get
divorced. I had three kids and they were totally shocked," she said. "I
thought my retirement, everything, was laid out before me." . . .

Divorce among older Americans, those in their 50s and even well into their
80s, is increasingly common, leading to a trend called "gray divorce."

"I've definitely had a number of clients who we would call senior citizens,"
said Lenox attorney Veronica J. Fenton, a member of the Massachusetts Bar
Association's family law section council addressing issues that affect the
practice of family law.

The divorce rate among Americans older than 65 grew from 6.7 percent in
March 2000 to 8 percent four years later, according to U.S. census figures.
Fenton and others point to a range of factors, including incompatibility
during retirement, greater independence of women and increased longevity.

"There's a lot of life changes that happen," she said. "People are living
longer. At one point people might have said, 'I've put up with it this long
and I'm going to wait it out.'" But now in their 60s or thereabouts, they
are asking whether they want to stay unhappy for 20 more years, she said.

She consulted about divorce recently with several people in their 70s,
including a woman who said her husband was controlling the money and keeping
her in the dark. And there was a man in his 80s who was having an affair.

Amherst attorney Linda Fidnick said that when she started practicing 27
years ago, almost no older people got divorced. "The divorces were mostly
initiated by the husband because he found somebody else, and that has really
changed. Both genders seek divorce in their golden years."

She said Viagra plays a role, sending many men to sexual relations outside
the marriage when they're older. Alcoholism also leads to divorce in older
years because it is a progressive disease, and "a functional alcoholic can
become dysfunctional in the senior years," she said. . . .

A study by AARP The Magazine in May 2004 found that 66 percent of women
initiated their mid- and late-life divorces, and that alcohol and drug abuse
were among their top reasons, along with physical or emotional abuse and
infidelity. Men said that falling out of love and different lifestyles or
values were the primary causes. . . .

Seventy-one-year-old Julia M. Anderson of Northampton got divorced at age
54. It was her second marriage, and she had been married 18 years. "I was
married to an alcoholic and didn't want to stay married," said Anderson, a
retired social worker.

Anderson tried dating after her second divorce, but, she said, "It became
apparent very soon that men my age were looking for women 15 years younger.
I was disappointed to find out, 'Oh, the window is closed.' I eventually
gave it up as a lost cause. After a while, I didn't care any more. I have my
life, and I'm really content with the way things are. I have kids, I have
friends, I take classes.". . . .

According to the AARP report, "Compared to other losses that may occur at
midlife or older, people age 40 and older generally feel that divorce is
more emotionally devastating than losing a job, about equal to experiencing
a major illness, and somewhat less devastating than a spouse's death." . . .

Various books and speakers also offer advice. David and Claudia Arp, who
have been married for 43 years, lead seminars around the country to help
couples cope with issues that come up in long marriages. They are the
authors of "The Second Half of Marriage," "Fighting for Your Empty Nest
Marriage" and "10 Great Dates for Empty Nesters." . . . ©2006 The Republican

For the full article:
<http://www.masslive.com/living/republican/index.ssf?/base/living-1/11644471
9352880.xml&coll=1>

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