Widowers likely to die younger

MANY men are criticised for not showing their emotions in a relationship, but it seems this may be an unfair accusation as it is men who are more likely to die from a broken heart when they are bereaved.

A study found males who were widowed died younger than their still-married counterparts.

In contrast, women’s longevity wasn’t affected by the loss of their spouses and some lived for longer.

It is thought one of the reasons men are affected more deeply is that they tend to rely on their wives.

As a result, they can be left struggling with everything from loneliness to cooking healthy meals.

Women are more self-sufficient and have a bigger network of friends.

The US researchers analysed data on almost 7 500 married men and women aged 50-plus whose lives and health were tracked for up to 16 years.

Men were twice as likely to die during the course of the study than women and males who had been widowed for at least two years were 35 percent more likely to die than those whose wives were still alive.

A divorce raised a man’s odds of death by 59 percent. The death or divorce of a husband did not affect women’s longevity overall.

However, if a woman is in an unhappy marriage, being widowed is linked with a longer-than-normal life, the journal Social Science & Medicine reports. – Daily Mail