Alzheimers Risk Lower in Married Couples

Marriage or having a partner cut the risk of developing dementia in half, a new Swedish research study showed.The Swedish study shows the importance of social interaction between couples. Researchers say single middle-aged people are more likely to develop cognitive impairment than their partnered counterparts.

Swedish researchers examined 1,449 Finnish people who were asked about their relationship status in mid-life and then again in 1998, an average of 21 years later. 139 of them had some sort of cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer’s had been diagnosed in 48 of these.

The study highlights a greater risk of developing cognitive impairment for all those who live alone, whether single, divorced or widowed. Social isolation or lack of personal contact also carries an increased risk of dementia and mental decline.

The results of the study were released yesterday at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease in Chicago.

Even after other factors which might have an impact on dementia were adjusted for, researchers concluded that those with partners had a 50 percent lower risk of showing signs of senility in later life compared to those who lived alone. Lonely people had a double risk of dementia. Those widowed at a young age who stayed single faced a six times greater chance to develop dementia.

“Cognitive and intellectual stimulation has been reported to be protective against dementia in general,” said study author Krister Hakansson, of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. “Living in a couple means that you are confronted with other ideas, perspectives and needs. You have to compromise, make decisions and solve problems together with someone else, which is more complicated and challenging. It is probably easier to get stuck in your own habits and routines if you live by yourself.”