VOA慢速英语--研究表明:不幸的婚姻不利于身体健康

 Study: Bad Marriage, Bad Health

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

Traditional wedding vows¹ often include the promise to be by your spouse’s side "in sickness and in health, 'til death do you part." Or something similar. Well, if you are in a bad marriage, the death part may come sooner than expected.

A new study finds that a stressful marriage may be unhealthy, especially for men. In fact, for some people it may be as bad as smoking.

But other studies say marriage helps us live longer

This finding seems to be opposite of many other studies that say marriage improves health. For example, one British study found that being married improved a person’s chances of surviving a heart attack. The researchers said married people had shorter hospital stays.

And experts at Harvard Medical School write on their website that married people:

live longer

have fewer strokes and heart attacks

have a lower chance of becoming depressed²

are less likely to have advanced cancer at the time of diagnosis³ and more likely to survive cancer for a longer period of time

and survive a major operation more often.

One way to make sense of conflicting findings about marriage is to consider the quality of the relationship. Do the partners support each other, or do they give each other long-term, chronic⁴ stress?

To find out how bad a stressful marriage is on health, researchers at two universities in the United States -- the University of Nevada, Reno and the University of Michigan -- teamed up. They followed 373 couples for 16 years.

The researchers wanted to know if often conflicting over certain topics affected⁵ a person's health in a negative way. These topics included such things as children, money, in-laws and recreational activities.

They found a conflict-filled relationship harms the body in many ways. People in a stressful relationship can have damaging inflammation, extreme changes in appetite and increased levels of stress hormones⁶. All these conditions can negatively affect many systems -- from heart function to how the body is able to fight diseases.

The researchers also found that a bad marriage was harder on men’s health than on women’s.

A key to a good marriage is communication

A good marriage is not without arguments, stress and disagreements. What seems to matter most is how a couple speaks to each other. How do they handle their differences? How do they resolve an argument?

One of the lead researchers is Rosie Shrout with the University of Nevada, Reno. In an interview with The Guardian⁷, Shrout says, “Conflict can be particularly damaging for health if spouses⁸ are hostile or defensive⁹ during disagreements." She adds that arguing about the same topic over and over again without finding a solution can also damage a person’s health.

Shrout also spoke¹⁰ with The Guardian about the health benefits of marriage. She said the act of getting married does not make people healthier. Instead, she said, the support married people give each other can help them stay healthier, heal faster, and have better mental well-being¹¹.

Tips for keeping your relationship healthy

On the website Women’s Health, relationship experts and happy couples give their tips on how to keep a relationship healthy. Here are a few.

Stop keeping score. A healthy relationship is not about winning and losing. In the bigger picture, who made the most money or who emptied the dishwasher last is not important.

Touch more. It does not have to be sexual touching¹². Simply holding hands can create stronger feelings between people. But now that we’re on the subject, relationship experts claim that having sex more does help a couple stay close.

Accept your in-laws. No family is perfect. Experts warn against complaining about your partner’s family or trying to change them. Having a sense of humor is often the best approach.

Turn off social media, stop texting, hide your phone and just hang out. Turning off social media and technology gives a couple the space to just be themselves. Playing a game, cooking a meal or taking a walk allows a couple to have simple fun together.

Learn how to fight fairly. Even couples in healthy relationships disagree. A relationship expert suggests that understanding how the other person deals with conflict can help a marriage in a big way. And don’t be afraid of losing a fight. Remember the earlier tip about not keeping score.

You can read all 43 tips in this online slide show.

And that’s the Health & Lifestyle report.

I’m Anna Matteo.

And I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

stress – n. a state of mental tension and worry

depressed – adj. having a serious medical condition that causes a person to feel very sad, hopeless, and unimportant

negative – adj. harmful or bad : not wanted

in-laws – n. people you are related to because of your marriage, especially the father or mother of your husband or wife

recreational – adj. done for enjoyment¹³

inflammation – n. a condition in which a part of your body becomes red, swollen¹⁴, and painful

appetite – n. a physical desire for food

communicate – v. to get someone to understand your thoughts or feelings : communication – n. a technique for expressing ideas effectively (as in speech)

hostile – adj. not friendly : having or showing unfriendly feelings

defensive – adj. behaving in a way that shows you feel people are criticizing you

sense of humor – noun phrase : a personality that gives someone the ability to say funny things and see the funny side of things

tip – n. a piece of advice or expert or authoritative¹⁵ information

slide show – n. any display in the form of a series of unmoving images, such as on a computer screen

1 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

2 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

3 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

4 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

7 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

8 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

9 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

12 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

13 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

14 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

15 authoritative   

adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的

参考例句：

• David speaks in an authoritative tone.大卫以命令的口吻说话。
• Her smile was warm but authoritative.她的笑容很和蔼，同时又透着威严。