Study: Alzheimers Disease Patients Spouses At Higher Dementia Risk
A new study has revealed that the spouses of Alzheimer's patients are at six times increased risk of developing the devastating condition themselves.
According to researchers from Utah State University, the person who takes physical and mental stress while caring an Alzheimer patients might suffer lasting damage in his/her brain's memory centre.
The researchers added that although caring is never easy in any form but watching the mental decline of dementia is very taxing and stressful, with men feeling the effects very badly. During the study, the researchers studied the health of more than 1,200 couples who had been married for an average of 49 years. The track was maintained for 12 years.
All the couple were fit at the start of the study, but by the end 225 people were affected with dementia. Out of 225, 125 were husband and 70 were wife.
Both spouses were affected in 30 couples. The study found that husbands were three times more vulnerable than wives to get affected with dementia. "It should be made clear that the majority of participants whose spouse had dementia did not develop the condition," Rebecca Wood of the Alzheimer's Research Trust was quoted as saying by dailymail.co.uk.
"Scandinavian researchers have found that being married in old age generally reduces risk, maybe because of the greater social interaction couples experience," Wood added.
