RELATIONSHIP status and the quality of relationships can significantly impact both mental and physical health.
Strong, supportive connections often lead to better health outcomes.
In research published at the end of last year, scientists found married people are less likely to be depressed.
And a study in 2023 found having a long-term partner can slash your risk of dying from heart failure.
But now a new study has suggested you ditch everything you know about marriage and its health benefits.
Research published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia studied dementia among more than 24,000 adults over 18 years.
All of the unmarried adults – whether divorced or widowed or never married – were found to be at lower risk of developing dementia than the married adults.
Their risk was at least 50 percent lower.
Those who had always been single (never married) had the lowest risk of all, though the difference between them and the other unmarried groups was not statistically significant.
In the study, 24,107 participants between the ages of 50 and 104 (average was 72) were assessed every year over the 18 year period.
Each time, they undertook neuropsychological tests of cognitive status and were evaluated by clinicians.
The results showed people who weren’t married were less at risk than the married people for dementia, Alzheimer’s or Lewy body dementia.
At the start of the study, some of the participants already had mild cognitive impairment.
Again,it was among the unmarried that their mild impairment was less likely to progress to dementia.
During the study, some of the married participants became widowed.
Those who did were less likely to develop dementia than those who stayed married.
The researchers also looked at other factors that could influence the development of dementia, such as age, sex, race, education, and smoking.
But the key finding emerged over and over again – unmarried people are less likely to develop dementia than married people.
They couldn’t say definitely why unmarried people were less likely to develop dementia than married people, but they did suggest single people are better at maintaining their social ties.
Selin Karakose, a Postdoctoral Researcher, Florida State University, and her colleagues said: “Never married individuals are also more likely to socialise with friends and neighbours and are more likely to engage in healthier behaviours than their married counterparts.
“Married individuals tend to have less social integration and are engaged in less frequent and lower-quality interactions in their networks compared to their unmarried counterparts.
“These positive aspects of well-being and social ties may potentially serve as protective factors against dementia over time.”
10 early signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's and dementia
- Memory loss that disrupts daily life
- Challenges in planning or solving problems
- Difficulty completing familiar tasks
- Confusion with time or place
- Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
- New problems with words in speaking or writing
- Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
- Decreased or poor judgment
- Withdrawal from work or social activities
- Changes in mood and personality
If you notice one or more signs in yourself or another person, it can be difficult to know what to do.
It’s natural to feel uncertain or nervous about discussing these changes with others.
Voicing worries about your own health might make them seem more ‘real’.
Or, you may fear upsetting someone by sharing observations about changes in his or her abilities or behaviour.
However, these are significant health concerns that should be evaluated by a doctor, and it’s important to take action to figure out what’s going on.
Source: Alzheimer’s Association
