*Alzheimer's risk high among lonely souls!*
Lonely people may face the risk of developing *Alzheimer's disease*<http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=Alzheimer%27s+disease&mkt=en-IN&form=QBRE&go.x=3&go.y=12>, a progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys a person's memory and ability to reason or make judgments, according to a study. Professor Robert Wilson and colleagues at Rush University Medical Centre studied more then 800 elderly patients who were followed over a four-year period, reported the online edition of BBC News. The researchers assessed the loneliness of participants by asking people to rate from one to five whether they agreed with certain statements related to loneliness on an annual basis. The researchers said in the "Archives of General Psychiatry" journal that apart from an emotional impact, loneliness has a physical impact, too. People who are lonely are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, they added. It may be that loneliness affects brain systems dealing with cognition and memory, making lonely people more vulnerable to effects of age-related decline in neural pathways, Wilson said. "This is an impressive study. It follows a large group of people for a significant period of time and comes up with startling findings that back up earlier studies examining social interaction and Alzheimer's risk," said Rebecca Wood, the chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust. "What I find particularly interesting about this study is the fact that it is an individual's perception of being lonely rather than their actual degree of social isolation that seems to correlate most closely with their Alzheimer's risk," she added. Social isolation has already been shown to be linked to dementia, but this is the first time researchers have looked at how alone people actually felt. -- ~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~--- Connect your World with Us join Now - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dimpill_gang/join Affiliated group from dimpill_gang for Only Adult Mails - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fantazies/join Affiliated group from dimpill_gang for Only Health and Food Mails - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Health_and_Gourmet/join -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~
