Loneliness Linked to Senility

A new study says being lonely could boost a senior's risk of dementia...but not of plaques, the gunk in the brain that causes Alzheimer's disease:

During the four-year study, 76 people developedan Alzheimer's-like dementia, Wilson [a researcher] says. The risk of developingdementia increased about 51% for each one-point increase on theloneliness scale. People with the highest scores had 2.1 times the riskof developing dementia, a group of conditions that destroy brain cellsand lead to mental confusion. Alzheimer's is the most common form ofdementia.

Autopsies were performed on 90 people who diedduring the study. The researchers found no link between loneliness andthe development of the abnormal brain deposits that are the hallmark ofAlzheimer's.

That finding suggests loneliness might betriggering dementia through a novel mechanism — one that doesn't leadto a brain riddled with deposits, Wilson says.

One theory is that people who are lonely overlong periods of time might have higher levels of damaging stresshormones. The elevated stress hormones might lead to an acceleratedaging of the brain — and perhaps to dementia, Wilson says.

Study links seniors' loneliness to higher risk of dementia [USAT]