When staying put can break your heart

OLDER couples who are not living ‘happily ever after’ can end up heartbroken — literally — and women usually suffer the most, according to a new study.

Staying in a bad marriage at any age is unhealthy, but the risk of developing heart disease was much higher in older people who suffered on, compared to those in happier relationships, the research suggests.

Sociologists at Michigan State University who studied participants aged between 57 and 85 said the effects of a bad marriage — particularly when one partner was critical or demanding of the other — had more significant impact on the wife, possibly because women tended to internalise their negative feelings.