Dementia is one of the biggest health concerns facing older adults today. It affects memory, thinking, and the ability to carry out daily tasks.
For many years, experts believed that being married helped protect people from dementia because marriage can provide emotional support, social contact, and practical help in later life. However, a new long-term study has revealed a surprising finding that challenges this idea.
Researchers from Florida State University College of Medicine and the University of Montpellier followed more than 24,000 older adults for up to 18 years. None of the participants had dementia at the start of the study.
Each year, trained medical professionals carefully checked their memory and thinking skills at more than 40 Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers across the United States. This careful follow-up allowed scientists to see who developed dementia over time and who did not.
At the beginning of the study, participants were divided into groups based on their marital status. Some were married, while others were widowed, divorced, or had never married.
Over the years, about one in five participants developed dementia. Among those who were married, the rate was about 21.9 percent. The same percentage was found among people who had lost a spouse.
The most unexpected result appeared in the other groups. Only 12.8 percent of divorced participants developed dementia. Among people who had never married, the number was even lower at 12.4 percent. In other words, divorced and never-married individuals were much less likely to develop dementia than married participants.
Scientists carefully considered whether other factors could explain the difference. They took into account age, gender, education, health conditions, lifestyle habits, and even genetic risk for dementia. After adjusting for these factors, the pattern remained the same. Being divorced or never married was still linked to a lower risk of developing dementia.
The researchers also looked at specific types of dementia. Married participants were more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia compared with those who were divorced or never married. However, marital status did not seem to strongly affect the risk of other forms, such as vascular dementia or frontotemporal dementia.
Another important finding involved people with mild cognitive impairment, a condition that often comes before dementia. Unmarried participants were less likely to progress from mild cognitive impairment to full dementia during the study period. This suggests that marital status may influence how quickly memory problems worsen over time.
Interestingly, the lower dementia risk among divorced and never-married individuals was seen across many different groups. It did not depend on age, gender, education level, or genetic background. This consistency makes the results more convincing and suggests the connection between marriage and brain health is more complex than once believed.
Why might unmarried people have a lower risk? The study did not provide a clear answer, but researchers suggest several possible explanations. Some unmarried individuals may maintain wider social networks of friends and relatives instead of relying mainly on a spouse.
Others may develop greater independence and coping skills, which could help keep the brain active. It is also possible that people who remain single or divorce later in life have different personality traits or lifestyles that protect brain health.
The findings challenge the common assumption that marriage always benefits long-term health. While marriage can offer many advantages, it may not automatically protect against dementia as once thought.
The researchers emphasize that more studies are needed to understand why these differences exist and how lifestyle, social connections, and personal habits interact with brain health.
This study shows that not being married in later life does not necessarily mean a higher risk of dementia. For some people, it may even be linked to a lower risk. As scientists continue to study dementia, this research reminds us that brain health depends on many factors, and there is no single path to healthy aging.
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