Loneliness increases the risk of dementia by more than 30%, a new global analysis shows
Loneliness increases the risk of dementia by 31 percent, according to a new analysis involving 609,000 people worldwide.
There is no cure for dementia, which affects around 7.9 million people across the European Union. But the risks include a combination of genetic and lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, smoking, drinking alcohol – and even the quality of our social connections.
The new study, published in the journal Nature Mental Health, found that loneliness increases the risk of dementia from all causes, Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, which is a greater risk for older people with diabetes or obesity.
Loneliness also increases the risk of cognitive impairment – a more general problem that covers memory loss and problems making decisions, concentrating or completing activities – by 15 percent.
The findings show that "loneliness is a very important risk factor in the development of dementia," Páraic Ó Súilleabháin, one of the study's authors and a lecturer in psychology at the University of Limerick in Ireland, said in a statement.
The authors of the study said that going forward, it will be important to investigate why people feel lonely and the type of loneliness they are experiencing, in order to intervene and curb the risk of cognitive decline and dementia later.