Posted on 01/29/2007 3:03:33 AM PST by Cardhu
01/29/2007
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An award-winning health-care leader has this message to elderly women: living with your husband is bad for your health. A research project conducted by Koichiro Fujimoto of the Ehime General Health Care Association showed that elderly women living with their retired husbands had almost twice the risk of dying than women living by themselves. "There are many elderly men who depend on their wives for much of their daily lives, and the presence of the husband is a physical and emotional burden on the wife," said Fujimoto, who received an award from the Ehime medical association on Sunday for his work on the health risks facing senior citizens. Fujimoto's team started the research between 1996 and 1998. About 3,100 men and women between 60 and 84 living in what was then Shigenobu, next to Matsuyama, were asked to reply to a 17-part questionnaire. They were asked about their medical history, if they had a living spouse, if they smoked, and other lifestyle queries. Shigenobu has since merged into what is now the city of Toon. About five years later, between 2001 and 2002, the research team determined whether their subjects were still living. The researchers compared the 200 or so subjects who had died against the approximately 2,900 who were still living. In particular, they looked into the effects of having a spouse on those who were between 60 and 74 as well as those between 75 and 84 during the period from 1996 to 1998. Of the group between 75 and 84, women who had husbands still living had a 2.02-fold greater risk of death than women who were unattached. On the other hand, men living with their wives had only a 0.46-fold greater risk of death than men who were widowed. Similar trends were found for the group between 60 and 74. "While the presence of the husband serves as a burden on the wife, husbands who lose their wives also lose the presence of someone who will help with their personal matters in day-to-day living, so the risk of death increases," Fujimoto said. "It is important for husbands to become more independent by helping out with housework." (IHT/Asahi: January 29,2007) |
Carolyn
not true. Single women outlive married. Doublecheck. The facts you state apply to men. Single women take just as good care, if not better, of themselves than married women. Married women sometimes neglect themselves as they are taking care of, worrying about, children, grandchildren, and hubby.
Not as high as a coward. A coward has a 100,000% chance of dying.
I teach film courses and some of the weirder students like the stuff and try to push it on the rest. I empathize with them but I find absolutely no justification for attaching any artistic value to it. I would like to know why it's such popular stuff in Japan though.
What do you think?
I'll take your word for it on the statistics. My earlier understanding was that it was for marrieds vs. unmarrieds across the board.....not married-by-gender vs. unmarried-by-gender classification.
~ Blue Jays ~
I can believe this. Back when Dear Abby was around, you'd see plenty of letters from women who couldn't stand being around their retired husbands. Several of them said their husbands followed them around like puppies, not knowing what to do with their free time and expected to be waited on hand and foot.
I can see where that would drive a woman up the wall.
Guys.....get a friggin hobby!
That is what computers are for... to keep the men from getting underfoot.
The reality is, that in days gone by, around the time I was born. An idle man in the cave meant starvation for the family.
Soooooo, along with all the other things that nature did to make us adapt, was to enhance the nagging gene in the female for the preservation of the family...
I don´t make this stuff up you know. :)
Typical - male bashing has become global.
Husbands get yourselves a young caregiver - let the old lady get on with her own things.
My husband died a couple of years ago at a young age...it isn't something I would ever joke about or find humor in.
Being in charge at work was their hobby.
The late Dear Abby was living in a different world and did not understand. (do advice columns even exist any more in the dinosaur media?)
The fact is that losing work is losing a part of his life. It is not a matter of change it is a matter of maintaining continuity. Since he does not work any more, he does the other parts of his life that can continue.
I have personally seen where men retire and an non-understanding and unsympathetic wife will go into nagging overdrive rather than help her man transition. It may be golf, it may be wood working, it may be philanthropy, it may be gardening, but he may just need some compassion to give himself permission to not be working.
Some women do not understand that RETIREMENT is a four letter word to some men.
You make a very good point. Work is a huge part of a mans life and when that's gone, I suppose there are adjustments to be made by both parties. I still think it's up to the man to have some sort of plan in place for what he's going to do with all that free time. It's not up to the wife to keep him constantly amused.
Wow! That is amazing, she is lucky to have him with her at this time of her life.
He is obviously a fit very man for his age. The body we can usually take care of, but the mind is just the luck of the draw.
I wish them both all the happiness that their love and companionship can create.
In my best Joyclyn Elders voice....Everybody's got to die of something, some time.
In my Kalee voice I say ... I'll stick with my husband even if I die sooner I'll definitely die happier.
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