Those people who are newly divorced, or in-the-process thereof, should take note of a recent University of Arizona research paper. Reviewing 32 different studies that involved over 6.5 million people over 27 years in 11 countries, including the U.S., researchers discovered that divorced adults faced a "significantly" higher risk of early death than their married counterparts.

The results of this "meta-analysis" surprised university researchers. While most assumed there might be some health risks associated with divorce in Illinois and around the world, they did not suspect the level of increased danger or the consistency of findings. Divorced adults apparently face a risk of early death that is 23 percent higher than married couples.

Fortunately, their research of these studies did not effectively conclude that divorce inevitably causes or leads to early death in adults. The results, however, appear to indicate that there is a correlation or link between divorce and declining health. They found that the increased risks paralleled documented public health issues, such as smoking cigarettes, obesity, lack of regular exercise, or heavy drinking.

The review cautioned against people assuming that divorce is "uniformly bad" for your health or that marriage is a "guarantee" of good health. Researchers learned that most adults of divorce progressed to a higher quality of life satisfaction quotient. Around 75 percent of divorced people remarry with much better results. Unfortunately, around 10 percent struggled forming new relationships, experienced loneliness, weight gain, or depression.

This research created questions needing answers. For example, was the increased risk due to the divorce or the adults adopting unhealthy behaviors before or after the dissolution of their marriage? Was it divorce trauma or lifestyle choices that influenced the higher early death rate? Is there a direct cause and effect link between divorce and declining health? Future studies may uncover answers to these important questions.

Source: USA Today, "UA study: Divorce can raise risk of early death," Anne Ryman, Jan. 10, 2012