Healthy marriage, healthy mind? Dementia risk lower for people married a long time, studies show; expert suggests why

A Norwegian study – backed up by numerous others – suggests that being in a long marriage may protect people against the risk of getting dementia

Being married means we are not alone in the face of life’s stressors. We have somebody to share our burdens with, somebody to talk to

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Research suggests that people who have stayed married for a long time have a lower risk for dementia because they feel less lonely, are more likely to eat well and exercise more, and are more cognitively engaged. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 4:15pm, 10 Apr 2023Updated: 6:14pm, 25 Apr 2023

This is the seventh instalment in a series on dementia, including the research into its causes and treatment, advice for carers, and stories of hope.

If you have been married for a long time, and especially if you have remained married through midlife, you might have a slightly lower risk of suffering from dementia, a recent study suggests.

There seems to be some relationship between marriage and dementia, says Vegard Skirbekk at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH/FHI); this has been shown over the years by a number of other studies.

Skirbekk and team analysed the marital status of people aged 44 to 68 over 24 years, to understand whether this status bore any relation to a clinical diagnosis of dementia or mild cognitive impairment after the age of 70.

Their results showed that those subjects who remained continuously married throughout the period had the lowest incidence of dementia. The highest incidence was found among divorced and single people.

Vegard Skirbekk is a researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Photo: Norwegian Institute of Public Health

My mother was married to my father for just shy of 21 years. She was widowed at 44, missing those key years of companionship between her fourth and sixth decades which are known to be the vulnerable years when cognitive decline, if it is going to happen, begins to sneak in.

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Healthy marriage, healthy mind? Dementia risk lower for people married a long time, studies show; expert suggests why

A Norwegian study – backed up by numerous others – suggests that being in a long marriage may protect people against the risk of getting dementia Being married means we are not alone in the face of life’s stressors. We have somebody to share our burdens with, somebody to talk to

A Norwegian study – backed up by numerous others – suggests that being in a long marriage may protect people against the risk of getting dementia

Being married means we are not alone in the face of life’s stressors. We have somebody to share our burdens with, somebody to talk to