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Study: Men Who Marry At Age 25 Or Older Have Better Bone Health

LOS ANGELES (CBS Sacramento) – According to a recent study out of UCLA, getting married at the age of 25 or older is good for a man's bones.

Researchers found evidence that men who married when they were younger than 25 had lower bone strength than those men that were married for the first time at an older age.

The researchers also found that men in a stable relationship who had never been divorced or separated had greater bone strength than men who previous marriages had failed.

The study did not find any link for women between being married and bone health.

"There is very little known about the influence of social factors – other than socioeconomic factors – on bone health," Dr. Carolyn Crandall, a professor of medicine in the division of general internal medicine and health service research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA said in a press release obtained by ScienceDaily.

The researchers examined the data from the Midlife in the United States study. Participants in the MIDUS study were between the ages of 25 and 75. That study was conducted between 1995 and 1996, those participants were then interviewed again between 2004 and 2005. The new researchers took other factors into consideration, such as medications, health behaviors, and menopause.

The researchers noted in their study that the link between marriage and bone health were evident in the spine but not the hip. They believe this is due to differences in bone composition.

Researchers were able to suggest from the data they collected that men had several correlations between marriage and bone health.

"Very early marriage was detrimental in men, likely because of the stresses of having to provide for a family," Dr. Arun Karlamangla, a professor of medicine in the geriatrics division at the Geffen School and study's co-author added in the press release.

The researchers are going to use this study in their next one – biological pathways connecting bone health and marriage.

"Specifically, never marrying, and experiencing a divorce, widowhood, or separation are associated with poor bone health in men, whereas poor marital quality is associated with poor bone health in women," the authors wrote.

The study was published in the online journal Osteoporosis International.

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