Why are men such cads?
According to the journal Cancer , divorce after a diagnosis of cancer is 6 times more likely if the patient is female.
The study, published on november 15, 2009, found female gender was found to be the strongest predictor of partner abandonment in patients with serious medical illness.
When divorce or separation occurred, quality of care and quality of life and survival were adversely affected.
Neuro-oncologists Marc Chamberlain and Michael Glanz followed 515 married patients with serious cases of cancer or multiple sclerosis for five years.
While life-threatening illness creates severe stress on a relationship , the few studies available suggest the risk of divorce is not higher in cancer patients at 11.6%.
However, there was a greater than 6-fold increase in risk of divorce after diagnosis of cancer in woman woman,20.8%, compared to 2.9% for men.
A wife usually felt compelled to by a sick husband. But husbands were more likely to leave.
Abandoned spouses were more likely to be depressed, less likely to complete prescribed treatment or try new therapies. They spent more time in the hospital and used hospice care less, said Chamberlain.
The study reviewed 214 patients malignant primary brain tumor, 193 with solid tumor with no nervous system involvement and 108 with multiple sclerosis who were married at the time of diagnosis.
Patients with brain tumors who were divorced or separated were more likely to be hospitalized, and less likely to participate in a clinical trial, receive multiple treatment regimens, complete cranial irradiation, or die at home.
Although, men are now more likely to care for aged parents, it seems that sadly caring for your wife is one of the last things to change.
Women are more likely to take on the role of caregiver says sociologist Deborah Carr, of Rutgers University.
“Women see it as part of the bargain they signed on for. Men don’t anticipate this happening, and it changes the marriage for them.”
