Pulse
Briefs
I Do, and He Does, Too
Is being married good for your health? The short answer is yes. Myriad studies have shown married people live longer than single people; have lower rates of heart disease, cancer, and other ailments; and are less likely to die of heart disease, suicide, cirrhosis of the liver, domestic violence, and even sexual assault.
But new research seems to suggest that whether or not marriage is good for you depends on your spouse. That’s because married people tend to mirror each others’ health habits, both good and bad. For example, a study of 12,000 Dutch couples reported in 2006 in the journal Sociology of Health and Illness showed that participants whose spouses reported poor health were almost three times more likely to report poor health than those with a healthier partner. Other studies have shown spousal concordance for weight and alcohol dependence.
The good news, however, is that when one spouse cleans up his or her health act, the other spouse is likely to follow suit. Duke University researchers recently reported in the July 2007 Health Services Review that spouses positively influence one another with regard to smoking, drinking, exercising, cholesterol screening, and even getting a flu shot.
Relative Risk
What does the sex of a man’s children have to do with his risk of developing prostate cancer? Quite a bit, according to researchers from Columbia University in New York City and Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health in Jerusalem.
In a study of nearly 39,000 Israeli men, the researchers found those who only had daughters had a higher risk of prostate cancer compared with those who had at least one son. In addition, they found that the more sons a man fathered, the more his relative risk for prostate cancer decreased.
The authors, who followed the men from the birth of their offspring (between 1964 and 1976) to 2005, concluded that the genes on the father’s Y chromosome may play a role in the risk for prostate cancer in this population.
The study was published in the January 2007 Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Teen Births Fall
Fewer girls in the United States are giving birth, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The rate of girls younger than 18 years of age giving birth in U.S. hospitals fell by nearly 25 percent between 1997 and 2004, from 55 to 41 admissions per 100,000 girls. Despite the decrease, the United States still has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and teen births in the industrialized world.
Women's Work
It’s women who make most of the decisions about health care for their families, according to the 2004 Kaiser Women’s Health Survey. Researchers found:
- 79 percent of mothers said they choose their children’s doctors;
- 84 percent are responsible for taking their children to doctor appointments;
- 57 percent make decisions regarding their children’s health insurance.
In addition, 12 percent of women reported caring for a sick or aging relative—usually a parent—compared with 8 percent of men.
Results were based on interviews by the Kaiser Family Foundation of 2,766 women and a sampling of 507 men ages 18 and older.
Friends and Family Plan
Smokers may find one of the most effective quitting tools under their own roof—their spouse and family. “Smokers who have a spouse, partner, family member, or any other person who provides support are more likely to be successful in quitting than someone who doesn’t have that support,” says Mayo Clinic psychology professor Christi Patten, Ph.D.
Patten, who works with Mayo’s Nicotine Dependence Center, is recruiting more than 500 family members, friends, and co-workers to take part in a study in which they will learn how to support smokers trying to quit. “We’re going directly to the support person and having them reach out to the smoker,” she says.
Participants will be randomly assigned to two groups. One will receive printed materials on addiction and advice on how to encourage cessation. The other will receive the materials plus three phone calls from counselors who will coach them through the process.
“Oftentimes people try to control the smoker’s behavior. They hide cigarettes, ash trays, set rules about where and when the person can smoke. Another common behavior is nagging the smoker to quit. Those are negative behaviors that are not helpful,” Patten says. “The most effective behaviors reinforce the smoker for any step made toward quitting.”
Patten’s team will also track whether the smoker calls the Minnesota QuitPlan help line. “Only 1.5 percent of Minnesota smokers call the QuitPlan help line. We thought perhaps by having support people encourage them to call, it might increase the number of calls and maybe increase utilization of an effective cessation service,” she says.
Those interested in participating in the study can call 800/957-2950 or email mayosupport@mayo.edu.—Kim Kiser