Could Health Problems in Women be Linked to Stressful Marriages

[agbonizuanghwe]

I made a very unscientific observation and am interested in finding out if there have been studies along this line and what the findings are?

A significant number of women in my social orbit have died (relatively early) in their late fifties to early sixties after debilitating, long term and of course terminal illnesses. Something else these women have had in common has been unhappy and/or stressful marriages. A number of them also either had problems with children not doing well or going completely bad or had problems with own siblings.

This led me to thinking that there might be a link in (Nigerian women) between their health and the quality of their relationships. A common ailment (more of them had it) was hyperthyroidism - it is poorly diagnosed in Nigeria glaring as the symptoms are - and then several came down with cancer, usually of some part of the GIT and allied organs - again Doctors in Nigeria seem to either be in denial or are blissfully ignorant about how common cancer has become in our society.

The strange thing is that the ones who developed BP-H appear to be holding out ok if they did not die of a cardio vascuar accident before they are 50.

All this is based on very unscientific observation and I am interested to know for sure so maybe other women can be given a head up about managing their relationships and emotions to safeguard their health.

[Oluwato]

Originally Posted by agbonizuanghwe

I made a very unscientific observation and am interested in finding out if there have been studies along this line and what the findings are?

A significant number of women in my social orbit have died (relatively early) in their late fifties to early sixties after debilitating, long term and of course terminal illnesses. Something else these women have had in common has been unhappy and/or stressful marriages. A number of them also either had problems with children not doing well or going completely bad or had problems with own siblings.

This led me to thinking that there might be a link in (Nigerian women) between their health and the quality of their relationships. A common ailment (more of them had it) was hyperthyroidism - it is poorly diagnosed in Nigeria glaring as the symptoms are - and then several came down with cancer, usually of some part of the GIT and allied organs - again Doctors in Nigeria seem to either be in denial or are blissfully ignorant about how common cancer has become in our society.

The strange thing is that the ones who developed BP-H appear to be holding out ok if they did not die of a cardio vascuar accident before they are 50.

All this is based on very unscientific observation and I am interested to know for sure so maybe other women can be given a head up about managing their relationships and emotions to safeguard their health.

Good observation. However there are lots of resources out there on health. A good book is "What makes women sick?" There's also genetics, spiritual disposition and psychological programming.

Looking at your title, your focus is on stressful marriages, this is just one of the reasons, there are many others.

All the best.

[Anonymous Villager]

Stress can induce a myriad of problems resulting in cancer.
What you have described could well be an overlap of a syndrome known as MEN that is MULTIPLE ENDOCRINE NEOPLASIA.
Read about it here.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multipl...rine_neoplasia

I am positive that if their family history and genetic history were well documented,a link to this syndrome may be found even though it is not that common.

[Anon]

Originally Posted by agbonizuanghwe

A common ailment (more of them had it) was hyperthyroidism - it is poorly diagnosed in Nigeria glaring as the symptoms are - and then several came down with cancer, usually of some part of the GIT and allied organs - again Doctors in Nigeria seem to either be in denial or are blissfully ignorant about how common cancer has become in our society.

You have no idea how right you are here. Infact there's an ongoing case I'm somewhat involved in where a highly respected Nigerian who died recently was misdiagnosed for 3 year until the cancer he actually had, had completely eaten up his organs. The family is suing the doctors and hospital who took no less than 10mil naira from them in that 3yrs treating him for everything else (including typhoid fever and gout) outside of what was really ailing him.

I'm just glad that a few patient advocacy groups are springing up to take on such cases, and even if it drives up the cost of health care it makes the NMA and the NMDB seat up to their responsibility of censoring and regulating medical practice in Nigeria.

As for the marriage angle, I'm sure it might have some merits but more scientific data would be good to back it up. The truth is that stress of any sort including work induced stress, in-laws or even by extended families stress is hardly recommended for any one that wants a sound mental and physical health. The rash of wife murders by US based Nigerian has been blamed on stress from the wives. The simple thing is to leave a marriage before it kills you or you are killed, in such situations because the saying that marriages are overrated hold so true in these circumstances.

Not to forget the worst cases of undiagnosed mental ill-health and hormonal imbalance.
The fear of the unknown prevents treatment while marriages continue to suffer.

Health does not just stop at a normal physical exam. Most problems are more endocrinological and psychological in nature. Especially in women.

[peterosa]

What has ill health got to do with marriage?i doubt if stress in marriage could couse ill health.

[HolyPagan]

Originally Posted by peterosa

What has ill health got to do with marriage?i doubt if stress in marriage could couse ill health.

Peterosa...I take it you are still single.
Please there is a plethora of research out there, Plus anecdotal evidence that a bad marriage can kill.

That is why you must be very careful in who you chose to marry.
You could be making a life and death decision

http://chetday.com/stressdangers.htm

A Stressful Life Can Cause Serious Health Problems



Stress is the ultimate proof of the mind-body connection.

Your mind perceives the stress; your body reacts to it in physically. In fact, there really isn't a part of your body that isn't affected by stress.

Stress, by its very nature, starts with the brain. Your body reacts like a roller coaster to the anxiety. It takes you up – fast. And then brings you crashing down – just as fast.

Your perceived level of threat stimulates a surge of hormones which is the cause of the heightened state of alertness which accompanies the stress. That's why, very often, you find you can neither sleep nor relax while you're in this state.

But, since your body can't continue in this hyper-mode for a long time, you soon find that once the hormone level subsides, you are brought back down. This is when you experience the headaches, moodiness, memory loss, inability to concentrate and, at times, even aggressive behavior.

It's well known that stress suppresses and weakens your immune system, your first line of defense against colds, the flu, and other health issues. Your reaction to stress lowers your body's white blood cell count which reduces your system's ability to heal itself.
Without a doubt, the most widely researched effects of stress on the body deal with the heart. It has been widely publicized that more heart attacks occur at the beginning of the work week Monday than any other day of the week. As an interesting side note, many of those heart attacks occur in the parking lot of the person's place of employment in the morning.Some of the lesser known physical symptoms of stress reveal themselves in some of the most unlikely places, like the ears, the lungs, and even in the hair. Those racing hormones which give us the ability to react more quickly to our perceived danger also heighten our sense of hearing. While this may sound like a benefit, in reality, it can be a danger. Research conducted at Cornell University revealed that even a moderate amount of noise is capable of elevating the damaging stress hormones.

Another study indicates that a collection of smaller noisy stressors – taken together – can actually be more stressful than one time loud noise. So, moms, it's not your imagination: a loud television in the background, kids yelling and screaming, horns honking and other noises really do send your nerves on end.

A large part of the fight-or-flight response resides in your lungs. One of our first reactions to a stressful situation is to hyperventilate. With hyperventilation, the human body pumps its lungs full of extra oxygen that will soon be needed in the bloodstream to run from threats, which in prehistoric era meant a large, deadly animal.

But today, our threats aren't as overt as that. So for the most part our increased breathing causes dizziness and pains in the diaphragm. Severe stress, additionally, exacerbates existing asthma conditions and any other pre-existing respiratory problems.

You shouldn't be surprised that under conditions of continual stress you discover that your hair isn't as shiny as it once was. In fact, you may even discover that you're losing some of your hair. Hair loss is part of your body's very real reaction to tension. Hair is considered by many a barometer of your inner health. So in stressful situations your hair may be the first part of your body to feel the repercussions.

Those old movies that show a woman who has just been scared witless by some monster suddenly developing a streak of gray hair aren't far from the truth because stress triggers the autoimmune system to attack its own hair follicles.

Another good example of stress and hair-related issues is to examine the men who become U.S. presidents. If the individual didn't enter the office with gray hair, he certainly left with it after even as few as four years. An even more severe reaction is that you may discover your hair is actually falling out.

Other Physical Consequences of Stress
Did you know that stress can even cause bad breath, and dry mouth? Because you take shorter, shallower breaths when you're feeling anxious, you also discover that it's harder to swallow. You might even react to stress by clenching your jaws or grinding your teeth. This even occurs during the middle of the night, when one would think that stress shouldn't be present.

The hormonal rush of adrenaline also causes your eyes to dilate. While this improves your vision, a trait that would have helped our primitive ancestors in dealing with dangerous situations. But, as with stress-related hearing responses, this reaction also has a down side.

It triggers eye ticks. Your muscles just can't sustain this level of alertness for very long. They soon grow tired. Some individuals even find that their eyes bulge from the stress that over-stimulates the thyroid gland.

Our brain – under perceived anxiety – instructs your muscles to constrict, tightening them in preparation for either a literal fight with the threat or for the run away from the danger. In addition to causing sore muscles, chronic stress has been known to put the body at a greater risk of sprain. Stress over long periods also aggravates existing cases of rheumatoid arthritis.

The skin is your body's largest organ, so it should come as no surprise that even the skin isn't immune from the adverse affects of chronic tension. Symptoms such as increased acne, rashes and itchy patches are made worse by the continued presence of nervous tension.

Have you noticed that when some people are embarrassed they blush? This too is a reaction to stress. Yet the same stressor can cause others to go pale. Hives? They can result when the skin reacts physically to stress. In fact, just about any skin condition will worsen when it's subjected to stress.

The disease which many refer to as shingles is very often triggered by stress. Shingles caused by the virus herpes zoster is related to the same virus that causes chicken pox.

Constipation. Diarrhea. Even spastic colon. These are only a few of the ways your digestive system may react to daily, chronic stress. The brain – when laboring under the threat of constant tension – actually diverts blood from the digestive tract, which effectively slows your digestion. Stress additionally increases acid production, which only increases any existing ulcers. Exposing your system to prolonged stress also increases your chances of developing colitis and irritable bowel syndrome.

Contd.......

[HolyPagan]

Originally Posted by peterosa

What has ill health got to do with marriage?i doubt if stress in marriage could couse ill health.

contd from previous post.....

http://www.methodisthealthsystem.org/ca/11290.htm

For better or worse: Marriage can affect your health
Learning to resolve conflicts can help improve your marriage and your health.


Every couple knows that marriage has its ups and downs—from the delights of the wedding day to the frustrations of finances.
Clearly, the way spouses relate to each other through these ups and downs can affect their relationship. But it may also affect their physical health, researchers have found.

Numerous links

More studies need to be done, but experts have found that marriage can influence health in a variety of ways, including:

Mental outlook. Married people, especially men, tend to have lower levels of depression, anxiety and other forms of psychological distress than people who are divorced, separated, single or widowed, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Evidence indicates that the aspect of marriage most important for psychological well-being is not the spouse's mere presence, but the emotional support that he or she provides. For the spouse receiving it, this support creates the sense of being cared about, loved, esteemed and valued as a person, and of having someone who cares about his or her problems.

"On average, across all types of marriages, married people are generally happier and healthier than unmarried people," says Tamara L. Newton, PhD, co-author of a report on marriage and physical health, published in the American Psychological Association's journal Psychological Bulletin.

Studies showed, however, that troubled marriages can hurt health by contributing to depression and other mental and emotional problems. Unhappily married people have the highest rates of depression, according to Mental Health America.

Because depression alters cardiovascular, immune and hormone functions, it can contribute to a variety of health threats. What's more, depressed people are more likely to have poorer health habits, such as alcohol and drug abuse, inadequate sleep and nutrition, and less exercise, all of which can hurt health, according to the research review by Dr. Newton and her colleague Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, PhD, the lead author of the report.

Immune system. Several studies have found a link between marital quality and immune function.

One study cited by Drs. Kiecolt-Glaser and Newton found that men and women who reported low marital quality were more likely to have dental cavities and gum disease—conditions that are affected by the immune system—than those who reported high marital quality.

In another study, hostile arguments were associated with an increase in levels of stress hormones. These changes could make people more susceptible to illness, particularly infectious diseases.
Changes in stress hormones tend to affect women more dramatically than men, according to the research review by Drs. Kiecolt-Glaser and Newton.

"We have seen that changes in stress hormones stay elevated over the course of a day, even after marital conflict has ended," Dr. Newton says. "This may occur because spouses are ruminating about the conflict—continuing to feel angry long after the argument has ended."

Health habits. Studies have found that supportive marriages tend to encourage healthful behaviors—and discourage unhealthful ones.

For example, Drs. Kiecolt-Glaser and Newton cite a study of married men that showed that positive marital interaction reduced the likelihood of risky health habits (poor eating, substance abuse and inadequate sleep).

Troubled marriages, on the other hand, have been linked with an increase in poor health habits.

"Some of the strongest data indicate that marital conflict may be both a precursor and a consequence of alcohol and drug abuse," Drs. Kiecolt-Glaser and Newton say in their research review.

Sense of well-being. Two studies found that married women who described their relationships with their partners as more rewarding reported fewer medical symptoms and rated their health as better than women whose relationships were less satisfying.

Another study of married women linked marital harmony with better sleep and fewer visits to the doctor.

Two studies of men and women linked higher marital satisfaction with higher self-rated health.

Overall lifespan. In one 15-year study, wives who reported more companionship and equality of decision-making with their husbands had a lower risk of death from all causes.
Blood pressure. In a study of husbands and wives with high blood pressure, those who had closer and more cohesive relationships had lower blood pressure while sleeping at night and over the course of 24 hours.

Marital disagreement, on the other hand, has been linked with heightened blood pressure and heart rates: In one study, women who reported lower marital satisfaction had higher systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) and heart rate responses while simply recalling marital conflict than women who were highly satisfied with their marriages.

Heart function. A study of 292 women found that those with severe marital stress were three times more likely to have a cardiac event (such as a heart attack) than women without marital stress. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In perspective

How long does it take for marriage to affect physical health?

"It is important to remember that health problems develop under very different time frames," says Dr. Newton, also an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Louisville. "For example, heart disease may take decades to develop. In contrast, a cold may develop over the course of one week."

Research has shown that persistent marital problems can contribute to both types of health conditions—those that take a long time to develop, and those that tend to develop more quickly.

"This doesn't mean that a couple must necessarily argue non-stop day in and day out for conflict to take a toll," Dr. Newton says. "I would guess that conflict is more likely to take a toll among couples who are not able to 'switch gears' after an argument—that is, couples who cannot come to a resolution, or who cannot eventually find humor in the situation. Continued arguing or 'stewing' in negative feelings or resentment are both sources of chronic stress."Dr. Kiecolt-Glaser says that one key to lowering stress during marital arguments is to concentrate on the issues at hand and reduce the amount of negative responses that result.

"We're not saying that conflicts in marriage are bad necessarily. They're completely normal," she says. "It's the way the couples disagreed that was later related to a rise in hormone levels and drop in immune function. The sarcasm, name-calling and backbiting are the problems. It's the quality of the disagreement."

Stepping forward

Fortunately for couples in conflict, professional counseling can help guide people toward healthier ways of relating.

"Marital therapy that focuses on communication patterns has been shown to be helpful," Dr. Newton says. "If couples can learn how to constructively talk and resolve their disagreements, they may feel happier together. This is difficult to do alone after a pattern has been established, but can be facilitated by a professional who is skilled in…marital therapy."