Posted on 04/14/2025 3:06:43 PM PDT by nickcarraway
new study led by researchers at Florida State University somewhat shockingly suggests that married people are more likely to develop dementia.
Would you believe me if I told you that staying single or ending your marriage could lower your odds of getting dementia?
A 2019 study from America found that unmarried people had “significantly higher odds of developing dementia over the study period than their married counterparts”.
Indeed, married people are generally thought to have better health. Studies have shown that they are at reduced risk of having heart disease and stroke and they tend to live longer. So why did the new study come up with this surprising finding? Let’s take a closer look.
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The researchers analysed data from more than 24,000 Americans without dementia at the start of the study. Participants were tracked for up to 18 years. Crucially, the team compared dementia rates across marital groups: married, divorced, widowed and never-married.
At first, it looked as though all three unmarried groups had a reduced risk of dementia compared with the married group. But, after accounting for other factors that could influence the results such as smoking and depression, only divorced and never-married people had a lower risk of dementia.
Differences were also seen depending on the type of dementia. For example, being unmarried was consistently linked with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. But it was not shown for vascular dementia – a rarer form of the condition.
The researchers also found that divorced or never-married people were less likely to progress from mild cognitive impairment to dementia and that people who became widowed during the study had a lower risk of dementia.
Possible explanations of the link between marriage and dementia Married people might be diagnosed earlier because they have spouses who notice memory problems and push for a doctor’s visit. This could make dementia look more common in married people – even if it’s not.
This is called ascertainment bias — when data is skewed because of who gets diagnosed or noticed more easily. However, the evidence of this was not strong. All participants had annual visits from a doctor, who could be thought of as a proxy partner who would spot early signs of dementia in the participant.
Perhaps it was the case that the sample of people used, from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) study, was not representative of the wider population. Specifically, the sample showed low levels of ethnic and income diversity. Also, nearly 64 percent of the participants were married. This may affect how these unexpected findings translate to the wider world. They could just have been unique to NACC participants.
However, it is more likely that these findings highlight just how complex the effects of marital disruptions, transitions and choices on brain health really are. Being married is by no means an established protective factor for dementia, with an earlier meta-analysis (a study of studies) showing mixed results.
The new study from Florida State University uses one of the biggest samples to date to examine this issue, and carries a good deal of weight. It highlights that assumptions based on previous research that widowhood and divorce are very stressful life events that can trigger Alzheimer’s disease or that unmarried people are socially isolated and therefore may be at higher risk of dementia, may not always be correct.
Relationship dynamics are by no means straightforward. As mentioned in the paper, such dynamics may “provide a more nuanced understanding than a simple binary effect”. Factors such as marriage quality, levels of satisfaction after divorce, cultural considerations, or the sociability of single people compared with coupled ones may help explain these seemingly contradictory results.
This study challenges the idea that marriage is automatically good for brain health. Instead, it suggests the effect of relationships on dementia is far more complex. What matters might not be your relationship status but how supported, connected and fulfilled you feel.
Avinash Chandra is a Postdoctoral Researcher, Neurology, Queen Mary University of London.
Didn’t Mrs. Reagan believe that something about the assassination attempt may have had something to do with Reagan’s dementia?
Of course there is no way to know what causes it in every case. But the people I’ve known who have kept their minds very active have done pretty well into great old age. (Jacques Barzun, for example, remained in his good, right mind until his death at 104. He published his last work at the age of 97.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Barzun
One of the men I know, who has it, led a VERY active mental and physical life, until dementia struck, so who knows?
And whilst the other was VERY socially active, I'm not certain about how active a mental life he led, prior to being struck down with dementia; though I do know that his wife is still VERY active with all kinds of different things.
And both of these families have children, grandchildren, and many friends...so it isn't about being "lonely" nor depressed.
One of the women, with dementia, that I mentioned, also had a VERY active social and mental life; though a widow without any children or grandchildren. And her mother, who died at the age of 95, was always sharp as a tack and more with it, mentally than her daughter was and NEVER lost her wits. He mother was a CONSERVATIVE, her daughter was a liberal.
As if I needed another reason to remain Bachelor4Life after a 31 year marriage ending in divorce?
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I have had several longtime friends in their 90s who ONLY made it that far because of their wives' "health nagging" for them to adopt healthy behaviors. Decades before they were burning their candles at both ends and the middle!
That one is a classic!
I wish I could forget my ex.. I still have dreams about her almost 30 years later.
Married men get dementia because their wives keep asked them if they remember what they did on April 13, 1990 at 10am and if they are sorry for doing it.
why do men die before their wives? We want too
My mom had it. My wife’s parents both had it. Both my grandmothers had it.
Unfortunately, too well-acquainted with it.
If married people tend to live longer, then that would help explain higher odds of developing dementia.
Isn't it the other way around? /rimshot
I’ve known couples like that.
A good woman is a treasure for a man in many ways including her being a good influence.
Sounds like another role our DNA’s plays with us, from our births, life and end of life.
“My mom had it. My wife’s parents both had it. Both my grandmothers had it!”
You have 4 ancestors, who passed along their good DNA and Some possible not good DNAs.
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