According to a new study, happily married people who have heart surgery are three times more likely to survive than those who are unmarried.

The effect of wedded bliss seems to influence women’s survival rates much more than men’s, however. 83% of happily married women who had heart-bypass operations lived for a further 15 years, compared with only 28% in unhappy marriages and 27% of those who were unmarried.

Happily married men also had survival rates of 83%, but even those who weren’t happy in their marriages had 60% chance of a 15-year survival. Those who were unmarried stood a 36% chance of survival.

Professor Kathleen King, who led the study, believes that having a supportive spouse can help you live a healthier life, by encouraging the other give up smoking or exercise more. Being happily married also gave people a reason to “stick around” after their surgery.

The research was published in the journal Health Psychology.

Steph says: We wrote up something quite similar in January- you can read Louise’s article here.

Written exclusively for The Life Dept| Live Longer | 23 August 2011 | providers of life insurance, critical illness insurance and income protection