Marriage can drive you crazy, but it can keep dementia at bay: study

Paris

MARRIAGE may test one's sanity, but living into old age with a partner also lowers the risk of dementia, researchers said on Wednesday.

In a study covering more than 800,000 people, they found that walking through life alone increased the chances of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia by 40 per cent.

Being widowed after extended co-habitation also took a toll, boosting the odds of mental slippage by about 20 per cent.

"There were fairly well established health benefits of marriage, so we did expect there to be a higher risk in unmarried people," said lead author Andrew Sommerlad, a psychiatrist and research fellow at University College Londo…