Wives Who Bite Their Tongues Risk Their Lives
(HealthDayNews, 2/17/05)

Elaine D. Eaker, head of an independent research firm in Wisconsin, and her colleagues from Boston University, evaluated the effect of marital stress on 3,682 participants in the Framingham Offspring Study. The 1,769 men and 1,913 women were healthy when first tested from 1984 to 1987, but over the next decade, women who said they kept quiet during marital conflict were 400% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease and/or die than their peers; whereas, men who kept quiet during conflict demonstrated no such negative effects. Scientists speculated that women who self-silence to preserve a relationship may activate damaging stress hormones. These findings suggest that women need to find positive ways to express anger in order to preserve their lives.

(Second Int’l Conference on Women, Heart Disease and Stroke, Orlando, Fla, 2/17/05)