Having a partner who could take care of you throughout your life is a blessing in disguise, and now a study has shown that people who are married have faster recovery rate as compared to people who are single, divorced or separated.

The findings of the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, revealed that married couples recover quicker after undergoing cardiac surgery than divorced people, singles.

They study, led by the University of Pennsylvania researchers involved over 1,500 adults who were above the age of 50 and have undergone heat surgery. Patients were asked about their marital status, i.e. whether they were married, widowed, single, or divorced.

Researcher after analyzing the data found that unmarried people not only had 40% higher chances of dying, they also had been among the most affected people by a disability after the medical procedure than married people.

Dr. Ashish Shah, chief of Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s heart transplantation department, said in a statement that the study confirms other findings that had shown improvement for married couples when recovering from surgery.

Shah said heart surgeons also know that stress can lead to serious post-operative complications and if a person have a person to rely on then he/she recover’s better.

Some previously conducted studies have shown that marriage bring additional benefits to both partners. For example, married people have less chances of getting heart disease and stroke than singles or live-ins.

It has been also found that married couples are less prone to take risks and abuse substances than singles and even people living in with a partner.