Why being alone ‘can trigger memory loss’
LONELINESS contributes to memory loss in old age rather than the other way around, researchers warned yesterday.
A decade-long study is the first to link loneliness and memory problems and is further evidence of the impact of isolation on physical health.
Dr Sanna Read, from the London School of Economics, and lead author of the paper, said: “Social contact is hugely important for older people, not just to stem the tide of the memory loss, but for overall well-being.
“Our research seems to suggest that improvements can be made by just improving the frequency, and not necessarily the quality, of social contact.
“It’s easy for a doctor to ask a patient how often they see other people.
“This information could be useful for a ‘social prescription’ to tackle isolation.”
By analysing changes in levels of social isolation and memory loss over time, researchers were able to establish that the former precedes the latter.
Dr Read added: “In some ways our findings are good news since improving older people’s social contact as a way to prevent, or slow, memory decline is easier than if it were the other way around.
“Finding any preventable factor that can improve people’s later lives is especially important since there is currently no cure for serious memory loss, such as experienced by someone with dementia.”
Both men and women are affected, but in different ways, according to Dr Read.
Men who were “highly isolated” experienced a memory decline of 18 per cent over two years, compared with a six per cent decline among men who scored “average” on a scale of isolation.
When isolation increased by two points, women’s memory declined, on average by 18 per cent over the next two years.
This compared with an average memory decline of four per cent in women who were averagely isolated.
These memory changes are similar to the rates found among people with progressive memory decline. People experiencing “normal ageing” undergo a two to four per cent bi-annual decline in memory.
Deborah Alsina, chief executive of the charity Independent Age, said: “This important research provides more evidence on the impact social isolation can have on people’s mental health and wellbeing.
“Social isolation and loneliness are closely linked, but they are not an inevitable part of growing old.
“Recognising the problem, and the health implications of being isolated, is a first step to reducing social isolation.”
Aideen Young, of the Centre for Ageing Better, said: “Too many people face barriers which make it harder for them to be active and involved in their communities – especially people in poor health or on low incomes.”
Researchers studied data from 6,123 women and 5,110 men aged 50-plus, from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, beginning in 2002.
Previous research has found that loneliness has the same negative impact on health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
The paper, Social Isolation And Memory Decline In Laterlife, has been published in The Journals of Gerontology.