A research team at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH) found that spouses of dementia patients have a higher risk of suffering from dementia than ordinary people.

According to the hospital, dementia patients often have a hard time living a normal life because their mental abilities, such as intelligence, will, and memory, significantly decline. Therefore, dementia patients need help from those around them, and dementia patients’ spouses share most of their daily life and assist the dementia patients.

Studies have found that the spouses of dementia patients rapidly decline in mental abilities, such as memory and language recognition, compared to spouses with normal healthy partners as couples share the same environment throughout their lives, increasing the risk of dementia.

About 40 percent of the causes of dementia come from 12 factors -- deafness, education level, smoking, depression, social isolation, traumatic brain injury, physical activity, high blood pressure, living environment (air pollution), obesity, excessive drinking, and diabetes. As these are factors that most couples share, it can increase the risk of the spouse of a dementia patient also having dementia.

However, there has been no study to determine which factors among the lifestyle habits shared by couples increase the risk of dementia.

Therefore, the team, led by Professor Kim Ki-woong of the Department of Mental Health, conducted a study to identify risk factors that affect the onset of dementia among the lifestyle habits shared between couples.

The team used the “Korean Longitudinal Study Cognitive Aging and Dementia (KLOSCAD)” data involving 784 Korean couples aged 60 and older and followed up on each factor every two years.

As a result, the team found that older adults whose spouses had dementia were about twice as likely to develop dementia compared to those who did not.

Also, spouses who shared dementia risk factors such as education level, physical activity, smoking, traumatic brain injury, and depression had a higher risk of suffering from dementia.

Notably, the team stressed that lack of physical activity and severe depression could further increase the risk of dementia.

“Spouses of dementia patients are highly aware of dementia and highly motivated to maintain their mental health to care for dementia patients,” Professor Kim said. “To help them, it is necessary to prepare an appropriate education program on the factors that cause dementia for both the dementia patient and their spouses in various clinical fields, such as treatment sites and dementia safety centers.”

Kim added that decreased physical activity and depression in old age are typical risk factors for dementia.

Since there is still no cure for dementia, Kim recommended regular physical activity and treatment programs to prevent the illness.

The Journal of the American Medical Association published the result of the study in its latest issue.