Chronic loneliness in adults over 65 May be an important risk factor for accelerated memory aging, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
“We found that the longer you felt lonely, the faster the memory loss, suggesting that it’s never going to work for supporting health Ageing too late in efforts to reduce loneliness. And Dementia: Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association .
Kobayashi and colleagues analyzed interview data from more than 9,000 adults over the age of 50 in the American Health and Retirement Study from 1996 to 2016. They assessed participants from Cumulative loneliness duration from 1996 to 2004 and changes in memory function in the subsequent 12 years from 2004 to 2016.
Epidemiology PhD student and lead author of the study, Yu Xuexin, said the relationship between loneliness and memory aging was strongest among older adults aged 65 and older, and women had stronger and faster memory than men.
“Women tend to have larger social networks than men, which may make women less lonely than men, but More people become vulnerable once they experience chronic loneliness,” Yu said. “Social stigma and reluctance to acknowledge loneliness may also be a factor in this observed sex-specific association. “
Lonely and Objective social isolation is an important factor affecting the health of older adults, and researchers say that reducing loneliness in older adults in the middle and late stages of life may help maintain memory function for longer.
In addition to Yu and Kobayashi, a postdoctoral fellow at the Ashly Westrick UM Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health is a co-author of the study.
More information:
Yu Xuexin et al, Cumulative loneliness and follow-up 1996-2016 Memory Function and Decline Rates in U.S. Adults Over 50, Alzheimer’s and Dementia (2022). DOI: 10.1002/alz.12734
Citation : Cumulative loneliness associated with accelerated memory aging in older adults (August 3, 2022) in 2022 Retrieved August 25, 2022 from https://medicalxpress.com/ news/2022-08-cumulative -loneliness-memory-aging-older.html
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