An analysis of records of nearly 3.8 million cancer patients found that married people obtained the best results after a diagnosis of cancer, while those who had separated were almost a third less likely to survive a decade.

The stress of separation appears to be key, said study author Gwen Sprehn, neuropsychologist at the Faculty of Medicine, Indiana University. “Maybe it’s a critical period early in the course of the disease when stress increases have a particularly adverse effect on the immune system’s ability to eliminate or suppress cancer,” he said.

Researchers know that marriage in general is good for the health of a person, perhaps because the spouse offers both physical and emotional support before and during illness.

The findings, published online in the Aug. 24 edition of Cancer, published in the print edition of November 1 this magazine.

After the researchers made statistical adjustments in place to take into account any errors, found that 36.8 percent of people living separated after 10 years of cancer diagnosis, compared with 57.5 percent of married. Nearly 41 percent of widowers lived for a decade and 45.6 percent of divorced and 51.7 percent of those who had never married.

The number of separated was very small compared with other groups, against 51.857 married 2184055.

Why separate people die sooner than those who are widowed?

“The difference might be that the death of a spouse has to do with a natural stage of life,” said Sprehn. “Along with that, widowers may have a stronger support system, both personally and culturally. The separation, even if” best “is not an expected event in life and could be preceded by a period of great conflict .

Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, director of the Division of Health Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Ohio State University, said the study is well done and fits with your own research about how most stressful disruptions affect the health of spouse.

“Many studies now show that stress and depression increase inflammation in a reliable manner,” which can aggravate cancer, he said.

However, the study leaves several questions in the air, apparently due to the limitations of the statistics used by researchers, said Liu Hui, assistant professor of sociology at Michigan State University.

The investigation took into account the marital history of respondents, or other details. “Previous research suggests that remarriage offer fewer health benefits than the first,” he said. Moreover, studies suggest that marriages last longer could offer more health benefits, he said, and the bad effects of crumbling marriages could disappear over time.

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