How your relationship status could double your dementia risk

I’m not sure that there are many diseases out there that the medical community understands less than dementia. In fact, it seems that beyond your genetics most doctors look at your risk of losing your memory as a crapshoot. And, I don’t know about you, but for me, that’s simply not good enough. I believe that forewarned is forearmed when it comes to your health. So, the more you know about what could cause a disease, especially one as devastating to your life and family as dementia, the more you can do to prevent it. That’s why a new study out of Michigan State University was so interesting since it found a significant link between your relationship status and your dementia risk. Double the risk The team of scientists analyzed the data from more than 15,000 people over the age of 52, separating them into four groups of unmarried individuals: Divorced or separated Widowed Never married Cohabiters And, the researchers found that hands down, people who were divorced had the highest risk of dementia. In fact, the results showed that divorce doubles your dementia risk compared to marriage! They also found that the risk was higher for divorced men than women. “This research is important because the number of unmarried older adults in the United States continues to grow, as people live longer and their marital histories become more complex,” said Hui Liu, professor of sociology, Michigan State University. “Marital status is an important but overlooked social risk/protective factor for dementia.” Confirmed link And, this wasn’t the first study to demonstrate such a profound link between a relationship (or, the lack thereof) and dementia. Just two years ago, after performing a review of 15 separate studies, researchers from University College London found that people who are single or widowed […]

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