Ugly Marital Spats Might Cause Disease.

• Position: INFLAMMATION

Married people who fight nastily are more likely to suffer from leaky guts--a problem that unleashes bacteria into the blood and can drive up disease-causing inflammation, suggests a study published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.

It is the first study to illuminate this particular pathway between bad marriages and poor health, indicates psychiatrist and lead author Janice Glaser, director of the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research.

"We think that this everyday marital distress--at least for some people--is causing changes in the gut that lead to inflammation and, potentially, illness. Hostility is a hallmark of bad marriages--the kind that leads to adverse physiological changes. Marital stress is a particularly potent stress because your partner is typically your primary support and, in a troubled marriage, your partner becomes your major source of stress."

Previous research has shown that marital discord can slow wound healing and drive up risk for inflammation-related diseases, including depression, heart disease, and diabetes.

In the leaky-gut study, the researchers found a strong, significant link between hostility and the biomarker LBP, which indicates...