GROUNDBREAKING research from the University of Limerick has found that loneliness can be a predictor in the future risk of developing dementia.
UL researchers, in partnership researchers from a network of universities worldwide, discovered that unchecked feelings of loneliness can increase the risk of developing dementia by as much as 31 per cent, as well as risks of future cognitive impairment by 15 per cent.
The international study, which involved 608,561 participants, reported that loneliness appears to be a factor in predicting a host of ailments including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, and cognitive impairment.
By combining data from ongoing aging studies and published literature, researchers were able to provide a meta-analysis of the link between loneliness and dementia, including data spanning several continents.
The study, published in Nature Mental Health, explored the far reaching effects of loneliness, particularly concerning cognitive decline.
Dr Páraic Ó Súilleabháin, director of the Personality, Individual Differences, and Biobehavioural Health Laboratory and member of UL’s Health Research Institute at UL, said that the study’s findings are “critical to future health in a variety of different ways, including our longevity – i.e. how long we live”.
He said that awareness around “loneliness is critically important for cognitive health, in that, (it) leads to the future development of dementia, vascular dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and more general cognitive impairment”.
Lead author of the study Dr Martina Luchetti, of Floria State University, explained that “there are different types and sources of loneliness that can affect cognitive symptoms across the dementia continuum” and suggested that “addressing loneliness promoting a feeling of connectedness could be protective for cognitive health in later life”.
The study was carried out in collaboration with the NIH National Institute on Aging, Florida State University, the University of Geneva, Wenzhou Medical University, and the University of Montpellier.
