Unmarried Denverites may have a lower dementia risk

• 61% of people ages 20 and older are unmarried in the Mile High City; women are slightly more likely than men to be unwed.

State of play: The finding seems to contradict the long-held belief that marriage is associated with better cognitive health and longevity.

Context: "Widowed, divorced, and never-married older adults had a lower dementia risk, compared to their married counterparts," the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center researchers say, based on a study of adults aged 50+, who were tracked for up to 18 years.

Caveat: The study relied on volunteers — mostly white and married — so the findings may not reflect the broader U.S. population.

Between the lines: Previous research has linked marriage to positive health outcomes, including lower risk of heart disease, longer life expectancy and, ironically, even reduced dementia risk.

Zoom out: Changes linked to dementia can begin up to 20 years before symptoms appear, so midlife — your 40s to 60s — may be a critical window for protecting your brain, Axios' Alison Snyder reports.

What's next: Researchers recommend homing in on factors like marital quality in future dementia studies.