A healthy marriage is important to your emotional well-being but also will likely be a reason why you are going to live a long life.

Recent studies make it clear that finding the right mate will not only boost your mental health but will help men and women live longer.

For two decades Ohio State University has been studying 90 couples from the time they were newlyweds to learn about how personal relationships affect health. Specifically, the study has focused on how stress impacts the body’s immune system.

The main finding is that a positive marriage relationship results in lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. The lower the level of cortisol the faster body begins healing. The study has found happily married older couples face less risk of infectious diseases.

Couples living in an unhappy marriage produced higher levels of cortisol and experienced poor health. While men benefit more form a happy marriage an unhappy marriage will take a deeper toll on women.

A linked conclusion is that because people can choose to be happily married every married person also can choose whether to be healthy or sick by successfully dealing with marital issues or ignoring them and letting them fester. Advice on how to build a happy marriage, and avoid the stress of a sick relationship, is given by five experts in the recently published book, The Marriage Medics. www.themarriagemedics.com

The Marriage Medics by Cynthia Cooper Ph.D. shares the reasons why some couples fall head-first into divorce and others walk away restored and emotionally healthy. Couples who save their relationships seem to do so by using a network of support.

The Marriage Medics collects your ideal relationship support network into a single book. Each of the five experts contributing to the book has seen hundreds of divorces from their unique professional perspective, and each knows exactly what factors can determine success or failure.