How living with the mother-in-law can damage a woman's health
Health hazard: Scientists say living with the mother-in-law can be bad for a woman's health
It probably makes your blood boil just to think about it.
But it turns out that living with the mother-in-law really can be bad for a woman's health.
Scientists say women are up to three times more likely to develop serious heart disease if they live under the same roof as their extended family.
The stress of acting as daughter, mother and partner can damage the heart by causing high blood pressure and even diabetes.
For the study, they looked at the effects of living arrangements on almost 91,000 healthy middle-aged men and women, over 14 years.
Between 1990 and 2004, 671 of those surveyed in Japan were diagnosed with coronary artery disease.
Meanwhile, 339 died of heart disease and 6,255 died of other causes.
A woman who lived with her parents - or those of her partner - as well as her children, was up to three times as likely to be diagnosed with heart disease as those who only lived with their partner.
Living with children doubled the risk, compared to those with a child-free home.
Women notoriously find their husband's mother to be a destructive force, as Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda showed in the film Monsterin-Law.
But if you thought that this research would give you an excuse to kick your mother-in-law out, think again.
Women living with extended family may have been at a higher risk of heart disease - but they were no more likely to die of the condition than those living only with their husband.
It is thought close relatives, especially parents, deter women from heavy drinking, smoking and other factors that can increase susceptibility to heart disease, according to public health specialist Professor Hiroyasu Iso.
But the 'stress from multiple family roles', was likely to be a reason for women's increased susceptibility, he said.
Many studies have found that married couples are more healthy than those who live alone.
And other research has shown that families headed by a single mother can suffer worse health, sometimes linked to poverty, explained Professor Iso, of Osaka University, Japan.
But little research has been done on alternative family structures.
'Living in a multi-generational family was associated with a higher risk of heart disease incidence in women, probably owing to role stress.
'Family structure and living arrangements are viewed as important determinants of health.'
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