2023 Author: Bryan Walter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 22:24
An analysis of 15 studies aimed at identifying risk factors for the development of dementia showed a relationship between people's personal lives and the likelihood of their symptoms. For example, bachelors and widowers are at risk. The work was published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.
Social isolation (or any relatively low level of social interaction) is associated with the occurrence of many diseases: for example, a meta-analysis of works involving more than 150 thousand participants has previously shown a connection between loneliness and the risk of heart attack and stroke. The marital status of the participants is often considered as the main indicator of the level of social interaction in such works, since data on this is relatively easy to collect and analyze. Thus, such studies point to a link between the absence of a permanent partner and high mortality both in cancer and in general.
British researchers led by Gill Livingston from University College London conducted a large-scale meta-study of the relationship between the marital status of older people and the likelihood of developing symptoms of dementia. In total, the researchers analyzed data on the marital status of 812 thousand participants in studies associated with the onset of dementia. More than half of the studies reviewed focused on older people (65 years and older), while the rest of the studies conducted on young people were long-term and included data on the onset of the first symptoms of the disorder depending on age. The age of the participants, as well as their gender, were taken into account in the analysis.
The researchers found that people who had never married had a 42 percent higher risk of developing dementia in old age than those who were married (or had a long-term partner). Widowers were also at risk: the death of a partner was associated with a 20 percent increased risk of developing the disorder. At the same time, the researchers did not find any relationship between the divorce of the study participants and the further manifestation of symptoms. It is worth noting that 92 percent of the participants were Swedes; nevertheless, the authors of the meta-analysis confirmed their results using the country of residence of the participants as an additional parameter.
Although the results of this meta-analysis can be relied upon due to the large sample size, the authors note that further study of the reasons for this correlation should be carried out in more detail. For example, loneliness may be associated with low rates of social interaction, which, in turn, can lead to an increased risk of depression and anxiety, and other factors (for example, mental health before marriage) may have a greater impact on the onset of dementia than familial position. In addition, in the following studies, it is necessary to carry out long-term observations and take into account, for example, the duration of marriage.
Among the factors influencing the onset of the disorder in old age, scientists also note a loss of smell and a reduction in REM sleep. You can read about how training your reaction speed reduces the chances of developing dementia in our blog post.
