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Can You 'Catch' Dementia From Your Spouse?
StudyFinds • • health
Key Points:
- A large Taiwanese study of nearly one million married individuals found that when one spouse is diagnosed with dementia, the other spouse’s risk of developing dementia increases by approximately 70 percent.
- The increased risk is attributed to shared lifestyle factors, similar lifelong habits, and the significant stress and health impacts of caregiving for a partner with dementia.
- Women with husbands diagnosed with dementia had a 74 percent higher risk, while men with wives diagnosed had a 69 percent higher risk, with these patterns consistent across dementia types and after adjusting for other health conditions.
- Younger spouses under 55 showed the sharpest relative increase in risk, and lower-income couples or those with fewer children faced the highest absolute risk, likely due to less available caregiving support.
- The study suggests dementia should be approached as a family health issue, advocating for closer monitoring and support for spouses of dementia patients to potentially mitigate their increased risk.
