Marriage may help prevent type-2 diabetes

Diabetes is a prolonged problem that causes many serious diseases. Generally, diabetes occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. When there isn’t enough insulin or cells stop responding to insulin, too much blood sugar stays in bloodstream.  In diabetes type-1, the pancreas does not make insulin, but in diabetes type-2, the pancreas makes less insulin.

Diabetes also can interfere with a couple’s sex life through loss of function, loss of desire and the effects of medications.

However, many studies have found that marriage has a range of health benefits compared to being unmarried.

A recent study has found that married people have a lower risk of developing type-2 diabetes, whether they are happy or unhappy in their conjugal life.

According to the study, people, particularly in older people, who are married or in a relationship have a capacity in their bodies that can help control blood sugar.

A previous study shows that marriage has a range of health benefits compared to being single. Married people live longer than unmarried people and have a low risk of stroke and heart attack. Their eating habits are also much healthier.

A new research conducted by the University of Luxembourg and University of Ottawa in Canada shows that marriage helps people to keep blood sugar under control. Conjugal life is happy or unhappy cannot be a matter to get benefits. 

The findings of the research ‘English Longitudinal Study of Ageing’ were published in the journal BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.

After the research, experts decide, “Overall, marital/cohabitating relationships were inversely related to HbA1c (average blood glucose) levels regardless of dimensions of spousal support or strain”.

Experts collected blood samples of 3,335 adults aged 50 to 89, who did not have diabetes at the start of the study.
During data collection, people were asked if they had a husband, wife, or partner with whom they lived and were asked questions to examine the level of strain and support within the relationship.

About 76 per cent of people in the analysis were married or living together. The quality of the relationship did not make a significant difference to the average levels of blood glucose. Married life or living with a live-in partner has an impact on average blood sugar levels even it is unhappy. But unmarried people did not get any benefit.

It is noted that a study last year said that a happy marriage has a significant effect on the early recovery from a heart attack.