Happily married people have lower blood pressure 51 unhappily married people or singles, a Brigham Young University study says.
On the other hand, even having a supportive social network did not translate into a blood pressure benefit for singles or unhappily __ 52 ___ people, according to the study.
"There seem to be some unique health benefits from marriage. It’s not just being married __ 53 __ benefits health - what’s really the most protective of health ’is having a happy 54 ," study author Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a psychologist who specializes in relationships and health, said in a prepared statement.
The study included 204 married and 99 __ 55 __ adults who wore portable blood-pressure monitors for 24 hours. The ___ 56 __ recorded blood pressure at random intervals and provided a total of about 72 readings.
"We wanted to capture participants’ blood pressure doing whatever they normally 57 in everyday life. Getting one or two readings in a clinic is not really __ 58 __ of the fluctuations that occur throughout the day," Holt-Lunstad said.
Overall, happily married people scored four points __ 59 ___ on the blood pressure readings than single adults. The study also found that blood __ 60 __ among married people – especially those in happy marriages - __ 61 __ more during sleep than in single people.