Reduced dementia risk among socially active people

Monday August 5th, 2019

People in their 50s and 60s may reduce their risk of developing dementia by being socially active, according to a UK study.

The longitudinal study, undertaken by researchers at UCL, London, and published in PLOS Medicine, reveals the most robust evidence yet that social contact could play an important role in staving off dementia, according to researchers.

Lead study Dr Andrew Sommerlad, from the university’s Department of Psychiatry, said it is known that one in three cases of dementia, a global health challenge, is potentially preventable.

“Here we’ve found that social contact, in middle age and late life, appears to lower the risk of dementia,” he said.

“This finding could feed into strategies to reduce everyone’s risk of developing dementia, adding yet another reason to promote connected communities and find ways to reduce isolation and loneliness.”

The research team used data from the Whitehall II study, tracking 10,228 participants who had been asked six times between 1985 and 2013 about their frequency of social contact with friends and relatives.

The same participants also completed cognitive testing from 1997 onwards, and researchers referred to the study subjects’ electronic health records up until 2017 to see if they had been diagnosed with dementia.

The researchers focused on social contact at age 50, 60 and 70, and subsequent incidence of dementia, and whether social contact was linked to cognitive decline.

They found that increased social contact at age 60 is associated with a significantly lower risk of developing dementia later in life, with someone aged 60 who saw friends daily being 12% less likely to develop dementia than someone who only saw one or two friends every few months.

They found similarly strong associations between social contact at ages 50 and 70 and subsequent dementia, although the associations were not statistically significant.

Although previous studies have found a link between social contact and dementia risk, they did not have such long follow-up times. The long follow-up in the present study strengthens the evidence that social engagement could protect people from dementia in the long run, say the authors.

Senior author Professor Gill Livingston, of UCL’s Department of Psychiatry, said: “People who are socially engaged are exercising cognitive skills such as memory and language, which may help them to develop cognitive reserve – while it may not stop their brains from changing, cognitive reserve could help people cope better with the effects of age and delay any symptoms of dementia.”

Welcoming the findings, Dr Kalpa Kharicha, head of innovation, policy and research at the Campaign to End Loneliness, said: “As we found in our Be More Us Campaign, almost half of UK adults say that their busy lives stop them from connecting with other people.

“It’s important we make changes to our daily lives to ensure we take the time to connect with others. We need more awareness of the benefits that social wellbeing and connectedness can have to tackle social isolation, loneliness and reduce dementia risk.”

The study was conducted by researchers in UCL Psychiatry, UCL Epidemiology & Public Health, Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust and Inserm.

Sommerlad A, Sabia S, Singh-Manoux A et al. Association of social contact with dementia and cognition: 28-year follow-up of the Whitehall II cohort study. PLOS Medicine 2 August 2019; doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002862

Tags: Brain & Neurology | Fitness | UK News

Printer friendly page