Partners do not simply grow old together; they often grow more alike. Decades of shared routines, environments and experiences leave couples with increasingly similar health profiles, a pattern long recognized for obesity, diabetes and heart disease and stroke.
Could dementia now belong on that list?
A new nationwide study from Taiwan suggests the answer is yes—but not for the reason many headlines might imply.
The shadow of shared lives
In this study involving almost 1 million married adults, researchers found that when one spouse developed dementia, the other was significantly more likely to receive the same diagnosis.
