How a Partner Impacts Our Health

As we are growing up, our parents influence our health, from how much they encourage us to exercise to the food they provide. As adults, we take charge of our well-being. Or do we? Researchers have discovered surprising evidence that our spouses and domestic partners might also impact our wellbeing to a degree we've never quite realized. 

What Research Reveals About Couples’ Health

Our medical system in the United States focuses on treating individuals. But could treating our partners offer a new path to improving our health?

A recent study at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston analyzed what they called a “domestic unit” (people with spouses or partners). The research examined participants' cardiovascular disease risk factors, including exercise, diet, and smoking. 

After looking at both partners in each unit, the researchers discovered:

• Almost 80 percent of couples belonged in the “nonideal” category. Translation: These individuals had significant cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as poor nutrition and insufficient exercise. 
• Most individuals with high-risk factors shared their partners’ health-related tendencies. When one partner smoked, for example, the other person tended to smoke as well. 
• For those with “ideal” health, both participants and their partners typically reflected positive habits. From their blood pressure to their diet, these healthy couples appeared to help each other stay well.

Researchers concluded that we usually mirror our partners’ wellness-related behaviors. The study indicated that we typically seek out others with whom we share common patterns, such as watching a movie versus taking walks. 

How to Work With Our Partners to Improve Health

The study described above, combined with related research, shows that our partners have the power to influence our health in multiple ways — and we theirs. We could take this to mean that our partner can impact our health negatively but we can also choose to see it from the other side. That is, we may improve our well-being by teaming up with our partners. 

Here are some suggestions for using the research data to enhance health:

• Sleep: Do you struggle with insomnia? Researchers discovered that our partners might unconsciously exacerbate our sleep problems. Action Plan: Consulting a sleep specialist with our partner present may help the entire household. 
• Weight: When we marry or form a similar partnership, we bring together two households. A recent study discovered it’s not just coffee makers and crockpots that are shared, though: Joyful newlyweds tend to gain weight. Action Plan: Teaming up with our partners to exercise daily may reduce the risk of post-wedding weight gain. 
• Pain: Researchers discovered that when women had a pattern of avoiding being close with their partners, their pain levels intensified. A related study found pain may diminish if one partner feels pain, when partners are in physical contact.

Action Plan: Learning to be honest with our partners when we feel pain and reaching out might help. 

• Diabetes: Research has found that when one partner has type 2 diabetes, the other partner has a 26% higher risk of developing that condition. 

Action Plan: Studies show that when we work with our partners to improve our health, we increase the likelihood of success. By going together to a nutritionist for diet help, for example, or joining a gym, couples may succeed in taking control of their diabetes.

It doesn't take much time in health groups on social media to see that partners often cite their relationships as a challenge when trying to make healthy changes and these studies may be why that is. They may also be the key to finding long-term success in making those changes if we can harness the power of our relationships to great effect. Understanding how our unions may impact both our own and our partner’s wellbeing may make those unions both healthier and happier. It’s crucial to seek medical guidance from a healthcare professional for concerns like type 2 diabetes — but maybe it's also time for doctors to consider seeing couples as a unit when trying to help them move toward greater health. It seems like our partnerships are an untapped support system that could benefit two for the price of one.

Copyright 2021, Wellness.com