Divorcees at greater risk of having multiple heart attacks

♦ Getting divorced increases the risk of suffering multiple heart attacks, a study has found.

Scientists had established that divorcees face a higher risk of dying from cardiac events compared with both non-divorced singletons and married people, however the latest analysis shows the increased chance of a second event is even higher.

Researchers analysed data from nearly 30,000 one-year survivors of a first heart attack in Sweden, monitoring them for four years and assessing their marital status. They found that divorced patients had an 18 per cent greater risk of a recurrent event than married patients.

Experts have previously said that people with a loving partner are more likely to be encouraged to keep fit, as well as comply with doctors’ orders.

The study was undertaken by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.