Loneliness is linked to Alzheimer's disease

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Loneliness can double the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study.
Social isolation - that is, having a small social network, being unmarried and participating in few activities - has been linked to an increased risk of dementia. But the impact of emotional isolation and the feeling of loneliness has not been widely explored. Now a group at Rush University Medical Center reports on a study of loneliness and Alzheimer's disease among a group of over 800 individuals with an average age of 80. The researchers used a standard questionnaire to assess loneliness and also carried out tests for Alzheimer's disease.

They found the risk of Alzheimer's went up 51 per cent for each point on the loneliness score. This meant that those with the highest scores on loneliness had twice the risk of Alzheimer's than those with the lowest scores. However, when autopsies were carried out, there was no link between the hallmark brain changes linked to Alzheimer's disease and loneliness in during life. The researchers wonder if loneliness causes some Alzheimer-like dementia which has a different brain pathology. Why this should be linked to loneliness is unclear - unless brain systems contributing to emotional isolation somehow make dementia pathology also more likely.

Source
Archives of General Psychiatry February 2007 Volume 64 pages 234-240

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