Being married may reduce risks of developing dementia: study

Marriage may lead to a different level of interaction, reducing the risk of developing dementia among married people. Those with spouses are likely to have an advantage over widowed people and those who were never married, new research implies.

It is suggested in a recent research that being married reduces the chances of developing dementia in many ways. Researchers in the UK have looked into married people and compared them with people who were divorced, widowed and never married. They have found that widowed people had a 20 percent higher risk of developing dementia compared to those who are married, while people who never walked the aisle had a 42 percent increased risk.

Dr Laura Phipps of Alzheimer’s Research UK cited a number of reasons why being married can offer positive benefits to a person’s health and well-being. Married people, Phipps said, may be financially better off, a factor closely related with many aspects of a person’s health.

Also, those who have a partner may be influenced to embrace healthier habits. Someone can look out for their health and get significant social support.

Marriage may lead to a positive level of interpersonal interaction and social engagement on a daily basis, and may improve a person’s “cognitive reserve.” The lead study author, Andrew Sommerlad, has described the term as a person's resilience against damages caused by dementia to the brain.

“This means that their brain has strategies that allow them to withstand the damage without showing symptoms of dementia,” he added. Previous research suggested that being married, increasing exercise and healthier eating lead to healthier decision-making. For widowed people, the researchers theorise that the increased risk of dementia among them may be due to bereavement, as it generally brings greater stress than divorce.

The researchers noted though that dementia prevention is not as simple as getting hitched. Although the study shows a correlation between having a spouse and dementia, understanding how exact factors linked to marital status affect dementia risk is still, for the most part, unknown.

The risks could also be linked with cognitive or personality traits that make a person less likely to get hitched. Sommerlad said it is possible that a person’s dementia risk plays a part in whether he meets his spouse years earlier. He also recognised that isolation is becoming more common among older people, and called for action to be taken to connect them back together to reduce social isolation, ABC News reports.