Married people more likely to survive cancer

Los Angeles, June 8

Married people are far more likely to survive cancer compared to those who are single, a new study has claimed.

Scientists from University of California (UC) San Diego in the US studied 60,000 people with six types of blood cancers and found that those with a spouse were a fifth more likely to survive than those without.

According to researchers, married people were more likely to be ‘nagged’ by their partner to visit a doctor, and to feel they had ‘something to live for’ after developing the disease, ‘the Telegraph’ reported.

There was a 20 per cent rise in the risk of death among those who were single, researchers said.

They found that single men fared worse than women, with an overall heightened risk of 24 per cent compared with their married counterparts.

This shows that men benefit more from having a partner and get more social support out of a marriage than women, according to Maria Elena Martinez from UC.

“Single patients often present at a later stage and are sicker,” said Matthew Wieduwilt from UC.

“If you are single you do not have someone at home nagging at you to get checked out, this is particularly true with men. Women tend to have more support even if they are single,” said Wieduwilt.

“Married people and people with families are more likely to stick to treatment. They have a support system making them go to chemo, reminding them to take their medication,” he added. — PTI