Heart Health, Love & Relationships
February is all about love, relationships & our heart. We’ve browsed several studies on the topic & picked out the most interesting facts for you…
Heart month & month of divorce
February is the most busy month for divorce lawyers. Cary Cheifetz, a New Jersey-based lawyer, told the New York Post: “I see it as a combination of cabin fever, people waiting until after the holidays and most importantly, people waiting until they know what their spouse’s bonus and income situation will be in the New Year.”
Being in love affects how we perceive our body
It just takes a fifth of a second to fall in love. A research team at Syracuse University, USA, found that two different regions of our brain are included in the process, producing dopamine, oxytocin, adrenaline and vasopressin. Also cognitive functions like body perception are affected.
Can one die from a broken heart?
Love can actually hurt. This is called stress cardiomyopathy or broken heart syndrome. In some cases, couples who had been together for decades weren’t able to live without their partner anymore. In 2012 in Pennsylvania, for example, a couple who had been married for 65 years died within 88 minutes of eachother.
Are happy relationships determined by our genes?
Swedish Karolinska Institute found in a study on twins and their partners that men with a certain genetic disposition are less likely to live a happy, harmonic relationship.
Healthy heart = healthy sex life
Cardiovascular diseases might lead to erectile dysfunction. The good news: Men who focused on a balanced diet and exercised several days per week, thereby reducing their risk for cardiovascular diseases, were able to improve their ability to have an erection.
Marriage cuts risk for heart diesease
The University of Oxford reports that the risk for heart diseases decreases by 28% in married women compared to those that are unmarried. The fact that husbands encourage their wives to go for regular visits to the physician or to consult a doctor when first symptoms appear might be an explanation.
Relationships are good for your heart
According to a study, our blood pressure drops substantially when we’re together with our partner. Even those in less harmonic relationships do have a healthier blood pressure. Washington-based National Institute of Medicine says that romantic relationships can prolong our lives.
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