Late Life Loneliness: Closely Associated with Alzheimer’s?

A recently published study in the Archives of General Psychiatry evaluated the effect of loneliness on late-life development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Researchers recruited 823 senior citizens free of dementia at baseline and assessed loneliness with a 5-item scale, and annually thereafter. During follow-up, 76 patients developed clinical AD. Risk of AD was more than doubled in lonely persons (score 3.2, 90th percentile) compared with persons who were not lonely (score 1.4, 10th percentile). Controlling for indicators of social isolation did not affect these findings, and mean degree of loneliness was associated throughout the study with cognitive decline. http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/64/2/234

-LS