Loneliness a Factor in Alzheimer's Disease

A study conducted by Rush University has found that a person's perception of loneliness is a factor for Alzheimer's disease. Researchers studied test subjects who perceived themselves to be socially isolated or disconnected from others. The results showed that lonely people are twice as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease as those who aren't.

The research was performed by study leader Professor Robert Wilson, a neuropsychology professor at Rush University Medical Center and Dr. David Bennett, co-author of the study and director of the Rush University Medical Center Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago. According to Bennett, it doesn't matter what size social circle a person has; a person can have a small network and not feel lonely, or a large network and feel completely isolated. While previous studies linked those with a small network of friends and family to have a greater risk of Alzheimer's disease, Wilson's and Bennett's work looked at the person's perception, no matter what their network size.

A group of 823 were tested in and around Chicago with the average age of 81. The test subjects showed no signs of dementia at the start and participants' agreed to donate their brains to the Rush Memory and Aging Project for further study. Repeated annually, researchers qualified the subjects' loneliness scale based on a 5-item questionnaire. Participants agreed or disagreed with statements on whether they didn't have enough friends, felt abandoned or experienced emptiness. Scores of 5 was the highest level of loneliness; the average score at the start was 2.3.