Stay social, be healthy

A healthy social network in old age may help in keeping dementia at bay. Social integration and good communal relations have been linked to healthy body and an active mind. To assess whether social integration protects against memory loss and other cognitive disorders in late life, American researchers studied 2249 members of a health maintenance organisation who were 78 years or older. All of them were free of dementia when the study began. To assess cognitive status of the participants, researchers used telephone Interview, telephone dementia questionnaire, and medical record review. Factors like age at entry, education, hormone use, cognitive status scores, and health conditions were taken into consideration. It was found that 268 out of the 2249 women developed dementia during the three years of follow up. Further, women with contacts and conversations with friends or family, whether on phone, e-mail or face-to-face were less likely to have dementia than those who had no social life. The findings suggest that the key to a healthy mind in old age may lie in an active social life and that being socially engaged may prevent the risk of developing dementia. The researchers concluded that larger social networks have a protective influence on cognitive function among elderly women. Future studies are expected to explore those aspects of social networks that are associated with dementia risk and maintenance of cognitive health.

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