Nicholas Christakis Quotations

Because people are interconnected, we think this phenomenon we studied in elderly married couples applies more generally. We are looking at broader connections -- between parent and child, brother and sister, neighbors, and friends.

Initially the partner is at increased risk from heart attack, suicide, and accidents. I am shocked my wife is sick and I stop paying attention when driving. And there is an increase in infections.

You can die of a broken heart not just when your partner dies but also when your partner falls ill.

Over the first 30 days it can be almost as bad for you to have a sick spouse as a dead spouse.

It is the disablement and not the lethality of a spouse's illness that can be harmful to you and contribute to your risk of dying.

These are a huge set of issues of fundamental social science interest that shed light on the workings of society.

Our work suggests that interventions might decrease the mortality of caregivers. Interventions are likely to be useful in certain diseases, such as stroke and dementia, and the timing of such interventions might be matched to the riskiest times for caregivers, for example, just after the hospitalization of the spouse.

If you are living at the margin, economically or in terms of age or being sicker, you are more vulnerable to your spouse being sick. If I am richer or younger, it is not as big a shock.