Love Can Help The Heart Heal, Evidence Says

Key TakeawaysPartners can help people recover from heart attacks and cope with heart diseaseIn 77% of previous studies, partner-based cardiac rehabilitation improved heart-healthy behaviorsPartners can take a more active role in improving their loved one’s heart health.TUESDAY, Dec. 16, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Hearts are often associated with love, especially around Valentine’s Day.That’s more relevant than you might think, a new evidence review says.The support of a beloved partner can dramatically improve recovery for people who’ve had a heart attack, heart failure or other heart-related emergency, researchers reported today in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.Based on these results, researchers recommend that intimate partners be included in cardiac rehabilitation programs, to help support patients’ heart health.“We need to treat the heart and nurture relationships to enhance health behaviors, mental health and, possibly, cardiovascular outcomes among those with heart disease,” lead researcher Heather Tulloch, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute in Canada, said in a news release.“This could lead to stronger emotional and social adjustment during patients’ recovery and ultimately to better health behaviors,” she added.For the study, researchers analyzed 16 previous studies involving 1,444 cardiac patients and their partners. The studies focused on couples-based programs that involve both partners in recovery and lifestyle changes.This approach focuses on the crucial role of the partner in helping a heart patient — say, by cooking heart-healthy meals, encouraging regular exercise or making sure medications are taken as directed.Results showed that in 77% of the reviewed studies, patients had better hearth health behaviors if they had their partner’s participation and support.However, there’s little data on how these couples-based programs affect the quality of the relationship itself, or each partner’s emotional adjustment to the patient’s illness, researchers noted.“Sometimes heart disease brings couples closer together, but often it’s a challenge for the relationship and both people in it,” Tulloch said. “We’ve learned over the years that cardiac events do not only happen to the patient, but to the couple.”Researchers recommend that more study be done on couples-based heart rehabilitation programs.“Interventions that include the partner as an active participant and meaningfully address what’s happening in patients’ relationships ought to be developed and tested, with the aim of helping couples better cope with heart disease by enhancing their mental and physical health and the health of their relationship,” Tulloch said.More informationThe American Heart Association has more on cardiac rehabilitation.SOURCES: Elsevier, news release, Dec. 16, 2025; Canadian Journal of Cardiology, Dec. 16, 2025 .What This Means For YouPartners of heart disease patients should ask if they can be included in their cardiac rehabilitation program..Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter