Why your heart’s only as healthy as your husband’s

COUPLES pledge to share everything with each other when they get married.

But most spouses probably wouldn’t have anticipated this would extend to the health of their hearts.

That is exactly what a study has found though – suggesting husbands and wives develop a similar risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.

Researchers at Harvard University followed more than 5,000 couples over four years, l ooking at key cardiovascular measures i ncluding exercise, smoking, cholesterol, weight and blood pressure.

People were grouped into three heart health categories – ideal, intermediate or poor. Scientists found that for eight in ten couples, both partners fall into the same non-ideal category. This means the chance of one person developing heart disease or suffering a stroke closely mirrors that of their partner.

Lead author Dr Samia Mora, from the Brigham And Women’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School, said: ‘We expected to see some shared risk factors, but it was a surprise to see that the vast majority of couples were in a nonideal category for overall cardiovascular health.’ Only 12 per cent of individuals were in the ideal category for heart health score.

When scientists assessed both people in a relationship, they found around half the time both people were closely matched for risk factors including their cholesterol, exercise and blood sugar levels. The smoking status of couples was also closely aligned, with six in ten couples sharing nonsmoker status. The researchers attribute this to similar habits, hobbies and activity levels for both members of a couple.

This was also replicated when one person made a dramatic change which impacted on their risk and heart health.

For example, when one person increased their physical activity the other partner was also more likely to do so.

‘Our data suggest that risk factors and behaviours track together for couples,’ said Dr Mora. ‘Rather than thinking about interventions for individuals, it may be helpful to think about interventions for couples or whole families.’

The findings are published in JAMA Network Open.