It turns out partnering up to tackle health goals like losing weight, more exercise or quitting smoking makes chances of success go up quite a bit – three times as much, actually. Having a support system is an obvious plus, but taking on the challenges together is even more helpful, according to a British study.
The University College London study, recently published in JAMA, looked at data from more than 3,700 married or cohabiting couples aged 50 and older for four years to determine the affects. They didn’t, however, examine whether or not an unhealthy partner had the opposite affect by dragging them down.
It’s not exactly clear whether or not the partnership aspect made the biggest difference or if people in relationships just happen to have similar health behaviors. Regardless it seems that it can’t hurt to have someone on your side while trying to tackle certain habits.
BBC News reported on the findings:
Researchers found that seeing an unhealthy partner make a change provided the biggest impetus for an individual to do the same, but living with someone already healthier than themselves also appeared to act as an encouragement. For example, a smoker was twice as likely to quit if their partner was a non-smoker but 10 times more likely to quit if their partner smoked but decided to quit too.
This information could be useful in public health campaigns, researcher Dr. Sarah Jackson pointed out.
“This is important because it shows that if you can target couples or encourage people to involve their partners they may be more likely to succeed. Having the support of someone close seems to help.”
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
If you’re struggling to really get some traction with your health-focused New Year’s resolutions, getting your partner on board could be just the thing that makes it stick.
[Photo from Flickr user Ed Yourdon]
