Interesting Green: ‘Never married’ men more likely to die from cancer

Today, Tuesday, October 18, 2011, Page T10, Health
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Source Website: http://www.todayonline.com/Health/EDC111018-0000158/Never-married-men-more-likely-to-die-from-cancer
By Eveline Gan, 04:46 AM Oct 18, 2011

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It is known that the unmarried are in general more likely to die earlier than their married counterparts. Now there is some indication that the divide is in fact getting worse. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Public Health looks at the changes in cancer survival over the past 40 years and show that the difference in mortality between married people and those who have never been married has also increased.

PHOTO: Many women (and occasionally men) who develop fibrocystic breast disease are more likely to also develop things like breast cancer, ovarian cysts and uterine fibroids

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Hakon Kravdal from the University of Oslo and Dr Astri Syse from the Cancer Registry of Norway looked at survival data from patients diagnosed with cancer between 1970 and 2007 and compared this to their marital status - married, never married, divorced / separated, or widowed.

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Their results showed that the unmarried have a greater risk of mortality regardless of age, education, site of tumour, time since diagnosis and cancer stage. Additionally, over the 40-year period of the study, the mortality of those who have never been married increased from 18 to 35 per cent for men and from 17 to 22 per cent for women.

PHOTO: The differences in cancer survival between unmarried and married people could possibly be explained by better general health at time of diagnosis or better adherence to treatment regimes and follow ups.

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Over an email interview with TODAY, Dr Astri explained that the differences in cancer survival between unmarried and married people could possibly be explained by better general health at time of diagnosis or better adherence to treatment regimes and follow ups.

PHOTO: Women are more likely to die early in Britain than in virtually every other western European country

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"Never married men are likely a selected group of men who might have behaviours affecting their health, so they are more likely to get cancer. Some of these factors also affect the likelihood of death from cancer," said Dr Astri. He suggested that being in a relationship where two people can take care of each other is also beneficial in general.

Another reason has to do with treatment, said Kravdal. "Married cancer patients might adhere better to the treatment that is given them, or perhaps even receive better treatment from the hospitals."

PHOTO: Scientists believe men who have been through a divorce or widowed are more at risk because of the damaging effects of stress on their bodies, according to the journal Cancer Causes and Control.

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While the theory also applies to women, the study revealed a lower mortality rate for female cancer patients.

Dr Astri noted that "it appears that women in general take better care of their health and seek medical care more often on their own initiative even when they are not in a relationship".

According to Kravdal, one limitation of the study is that "cohabiting people are scattered throughout the never-married, divorced/separated, or widowed groups".

PHOTO: "In 1970, single men with cancer were 18% more likely to die than married men with cancer. By 2007, that number had expanded to 35%."

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"Consequently, presuming cohabiters to have the same benefits as married couples, the actual differences between couples and singletons are probably much higher," he said.

By Eveline Gan, 04:46 AM Oct 18, 2011