Marriage Could Be a 'Buffer' Against Dementia

By Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Jan. 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Tying the knot is now tied to healthier aging brains: People who stay married for the long haul may gain some protection from dementia, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that compared with both divorced people and lifelong singles, older adults in a long-term marriage were less likely to develop dementia. Roughly 11% were diagnosed with dementia after age 70, versus 12% to 14% of their divorced or single counterparts.

When the researchers weighed other factors that could affect dementia risk like education levels and lifestyle habits long-term marriage was still linked to a protective effect: Divorced and unmarried adults were 50% to 73% more likely to be diagnosed with dementia.

The study is not the first to tie marital status to dementia risk, according to researcher Bjorn Heine Strand, a senior scientist with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, in Oslo.

"Marriage has been reported to be associated with reduced dementia risk in numerous studies, and our results add to this evidence," Strand said.