Although the actual mechanism linking loneliness with Alzheimer's is unclear, the researchers say it is unlikely that Alzheimer's actually causes the loneliness.
Retirement Cohousing Directory
Aging
Here Is Both Delightful and Graceful
Are
Rentals a Source of Income or Nuisance?
Attracting Younger People
Common House in Retirement Cohousing
Deciding
If Cohousing Is Your Correct Choice
Ecohousing:
A Green Retirement
Features of Common House
Finding DFW Cohousing Communities
Friction
Making Community Decision
Gardens
in Retirement Cohousing
How
Much Does It Cost?
Importance of Autos Recedes
Innumerable Benefits
of Cohousing
Locating Retirement Cohousing in
DFW
Near
Universal Features
Planning Outdoor Common Areas
Retirement
Cohousing & Your Active Lifestyle
Social Isolation & Loneliness Relating to Dementia &
Alzheimer Disease
What About
Children?
What
Are Usual Common
Areas?
What
Is Shared, Private in Retirement Cohousing?
Researchers at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago tested the
hypothesis that loneliness is associated with increased risk of
Alzheimer disease. The results were published in the February,
2007 issue of the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.
Researchers assessed loneliness and dementia in 823 people, averaging almost 81 years of age, for up to four years. At the start of the study, the participants' overall average loneliness score was 2.3 on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 5.
Seventy-six people developed Alzheimer's disease during the course of the study, which is
According to the researchers, each point of increase on the loneliness score was associated with about a 51 percent increased risk of developing Alzheimer's.
This would mean that a person with a high loneliness score (3.2) would be about 2.1 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's than someone with a low score (1.4), they said.
At death, a uniform postmortem examination of the brain was
conducted to quantify AD pathology in multiple brain regions
and the presence of cerebral infarctions. Autopsies performed on 90 people who died during the study revealed that loneliness in life was not related to any of the characteristic brain changes that are associated with Alzheimer's
disease, such as nerve plaques and tangles.
Although the actual mechanism linking loneliness with Alzheimer's is unclear, the researchers
say it is unlikely that Alzheimer's actually causes the loneliness.
Researchers from Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center concluded that loneliness is associated with an increased risk of late-life dementia but not associated with its leading causes.
DFW
Ecovillages
Retirement or Intergenerational
Green Housing and Villages
in many areas of
Dallas-Fort Worth.
|
Energy-Efficient, |