MIDDLE-AGED people who live alone may have double the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease in later life compared with those who are married or living with others, research has suggested.
Being widowed or divorced in mid-life was linked to an even greater risk of dementia – three times higher, according to the study, published yesterday in the British Medical Journal.
Experts believe social interaction provides a protective eff
ect against dementia by preventing mental decline.
The researchers, led by Miia Kivipelto from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institute, interviewed a random sample of around 1,500 men and women.
In Scotland it is estimated that up to 67,000 people have dementia, with numbers expected to rise to up to 114,000 by 2031, according to Alzheimer Scotland.
Volunteers were surveyed at around the age of 50 and then 21 years later.
The study also found that carriers of a genetic variant known as a risk factor for Alzheimer's who lost their partners and remained living alone had the highest risk of developing the disease.
The authors said the results were important for preventing dementia and cognitive impairment and that "supportive intervention for individuals who have lost a partner might be a promising strategy in preventive health care".
They added: "Living in a relationship with a partner might imply cognitive and social challenges that have a protective effect against cognitive impairment later in life."
Researcher and epidemiologist Catherine Helmer said the study strengthened the hypothesis that the development of cognitive impairment and dementia was a long process affected by various factors throughout life.
She suggested the findings could lead to preventive strategies that encourage unmarried, especially widowed, people to increase their social engagement by taking part in cultural, social, and sporting activities.
Kirsty Jardine, from Alzheimer Scotland, said: "There is a growing trend in dementia research indicating the very real importance of staying socially active, particularly into middle age and beyond."
However, Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the Alzheimer's Society, said: "
Single people shouldn't worry – there are many other ways to reduce your risk of dementia."
Difficult to feel contented on just £95.25 a weekWHAT planet is the psychologist on? The global credit crisis, stock market slump and plunging interest rates have passed him by if he believes today's over-55s are "likely to be travelling the world, happy and content".
Many more, I suspect, are viewing the prospect of retirement with blind terror. For the record the full basic state pension for a single person is £95.25 a week.
The average private pension fund "pot" is £25,431. For a 65-year-old man this would buy an annuity of £1,776 per annum, or £34 a week. It wouldn't get you far on that luxury cruise liner, but just might cover a day trip to Rothesay. "Happy and content" I'll leave open.
Final salary pension schemes are becoming as rare as happy faces at Standard Life. They are increasingly confined to the public sector, where a 25-year-old on a lifetime average salary of £50,000 a year could expect a pension of £57,714. The same worker in a private defined contribution scheme paying in 2.7 per cent of the same lifetime average salary, with the employer paying in 6.5 per cent, would get an annual pension of just £16,023.
Happy and contended after a lifetime of contributions? Angry and bitter, more likely. The lifetime savers have been viciously betrayed.
Throwing out age-old misconceptionsTODAY'S over 55s are more likely to be travelling the world happy and content while the under 25s are lonely and stressed by money worries.
Society's view of ageing is "fundamentally flawed", claims a new report, and a leading psychologist has called for an end to our "deep-rooted ageism", saying people
should recognise that "baby boomers" have lifestyles closer to our traditional perception of those aged under 25.
The Standard Life report, called Age Old Stereotypes, was based on a survey of more than 2,100 adults who were asked to identify which feelings and activities they thought were typical at a certain age.
To avoid bias, the survey was repeated a week later, when they were asked to identify which activities and feelings applied to them.
The research found people define over 55 by what they don't do. The perception is they are most likely of all age groups to be lonely and least likely to have hobbies or to be doing anything adventurous.
However, in reality, over-55s are most likely to be active in the community, most likely to be travelling abroad and least likely to be lonely. Of all age groups, over-55s are the most likely to be happy.
Most people believe that the "time of our lives" is aged between 18 and 25 when you are most likely to have time for fun and socialising, be most likely to play sport and hobbies, and be adventurous, the study found.
However, those aged 18-25 were in reality most likely of all age groups to be lonely and have financial worries. They are also least likely to be in a satisfying relationship.
The full article contains 880 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
