Alert, Study Reveals Loneliness Can Increase Risks Attacked By Dementia

JAKARTA - Living in loneliness is closely related to the risk of dementia occurring in a person. Dementia is a cognitive condition that the brain has decreased, which can cause memory loss and the ability to assess.

In research conducted for 9 years and published in 2023, adults who are socially isolated or often alone have a risk of 27 percent higher dementia. This shows that a person needs social activity, which actually has a big role to play in maintaining brain health.

Professor from the psychiatric division of University College London, Dr Andrew Sommerland, said that social engagement provides many benefits for a person. One of them is to train memory to remain normal.

"The stimulation element is there (social involvement). For example, when we recognize a face and remember a person's history, so that we can ask relevant questions about their work or children," he said, quoted from SCMP, on Thursday, February 6, 2025.

Sommerland says that when a person interacts with another person through jokes or talks, millions of neurons in the brain will work harder to make the right connections. Social interactions can also improve mood, which if good will relieve the effects of inflammation of the stress hormone cortisol.

On the other hand, a researcher at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Florida, Martina Luchetti, wrote a review of the relationship research between dementia and loneliness, involving 600 thousand people. Loneliness is very close to depression and the risk factor is cognitive disorder, including dementia.

"The concept is closely related to depression, which is a well-known risk factor for cognitive disorders in advanced age," he said.

Another study conducted in 2022 shows that loneliness not only increases the risk of dementia, but also a smaller hippocampus. Hypocampus is part of the brain that plays an important role in memory and learning.

However, experts also emphasize that loneliness can be subjective to everyone. Sometimes a person who is always alone does not feel lonely, because it depends on the character, needs, desires, and resources they have.