According to recent research, social isolation may raise one’s risk of developing dementia. Dementia is a collection of symptoms that significantly impairs a person’s memory, reasoning, direction, comprehension, and social skills, making it challenging to carry out daily tasks.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines dementia as a syndrome that causes cognitive performance to deteriorate more rapidly than may be anticipated from the normal effects of biological aging.
Researchers discovered that those who smoked, drank excessively, slept poorly, and didn’t exercise frequently had a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, which further enhanced their likelihood of feeling lonely.
The research was done by scientists from the Bloomberg School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and it was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
According to the study, older persons who are socially isolated have a 27% higher risk of acquiring dementia than those who aren’t.
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All study participants, who were 65 years of age or older, were required to complete a yearly, in-person, two-hour interview to evaluate their cognitive performance, health, and general well-being.
Of the 5,022 subjects, 23% were socially isolated at the time of the initial interview and exhibited no symptoms of dementia. Nonetheless, 21% of the entire sample of individuals had dementia by the end of the nine-year trial.
According to Alison Huang, senior research associate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, socially isolated older persons have smaller social networks, live alone, and participate in less social activities.
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Basic communications technology is a terrific tool to fight social isolation, says Mfon Umoh, a postdoctoral fellow in geriatric medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
“According to this study, social isolation, which is linked to serious health problems, can be prevented in older persons by having access to and using basic technologies. This is exciting as it suggests that straightforward interventions may be effective “said Mfon Umoh.
Social isolation has become more prevalent over the previous ten years, in large part because of the limitations imposed by the Covid-19 epidemic. The elevated hazards associated with biological sex, physical limits, race, and socioeconomic status should be the focus of future research in this area.