This is why staying single is 'better for your brain'

If you ever catch yourself feeling a little down in the dumps about single life, just know, it could actually be the key to good health if a new study is anything to go by.

A recent study led by researchers at Florida State University has done a 180 on what scientists previously thought, and that remaining unmarried could help to prevent dementia, and protect your brain health.

For context, a 2019 study claimed that unmarried people were actually more likely to develop dementia than their married counterparts, but the new study followed participants for 18 whole years, and took into account other lifestyle factors to calculate their risk of developing the disease.

24,000 elderly Americans (with an average age of 72) who didn’t have dementia at the start of the study were grouped into four categories: married, divorced, widowed, and never married.

Each year of the study the participants underwent neuropsychological tests of cognitive status and were also evaluated by clinicians.

After taking into account things like smoking, gender, race, or having an existing mental health condition, it was those who were divorced or never married who had the lowest risk of contracting dementia - most notably Alzheimer's.

In fact, it wasn't just lower, but at least 50 per cent lower. That's a big number.

Pexels

Those who were divorced or never married were also less likely to have their dementia be progressive.

There was a slight difference between men and women, with those biologically male and single even less likely than those biologically female and single to contract dementia.

The only instance where this wasn't the case was with rare types of dementia, such as vascular dementia.

"Never married individuals are more likely to socialize with friends and neighbors and are more likely to engage in healthier behaviors than their married counterparts", says Selin Karakose, leading the study.

"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.”

Time to delete Tinder.

Why not read...

Dementia could be treated by manipulating brain waves as we sleep

Eating strawberries can reduce the risks of dementia, study finds

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel