Loneliness in older adults can often lead to memory impairment

A longitudinal study finds links to lapses in immediate and delayed recall.

See full article...

 

[UserIDAlreadyInUse]

I thought I'd read this before, but can't remember where...

 

[wastrel]

Classically, statistically use it or lose it.

 

[Dr Spiff]

I’ve been thinking about this lately. Still have a couple of years until retirement, but would like to start preparing so I won’t end up alone if my wife dies before I do (also don’t want her to be lonely if I go first). Was playing with the idea of opening a B&B or something, where there would always be some people around (at least when I serve them breakfast). I don’t know. Either way, it feels sad that there’s so much loneliness in society.

 

[WereCatf]

By 2050, according to United Nations projections, one in six people in the world will be over the age of 65. Societies are entering a stage where old age will no longer be the exception but will become the norm.

Interestingly, a lot of these people that we'd now consider "old" are beginning to be programmers, tech nerds, engineers and even gamers. I'd love to see some research into how our kind fare in comparison to the rest when it comes to memory impairment and cognitive decline -- do we, in general, fare better, do we see even harsher drop or is there really any meaningful difference?

The conventional wisdom says that people who keep their brains busy fare better, so one might assume our kind to fare better, but at the same time as we age, we have less energy to keep ourselves busy, we tend to lose access to equipment or workspaces or such and I could see that just as well having a far harsher effect.

 

[DaleL]

This is another associative study. Elderly people, with better cognitive function, are more likely to be more outgoing and active. It could be that loneliness in the elderly is the RESULT of memory impairment. Elderly people who engage in physical activity, at least in part, do it because they can. Many of my peers have various physical issues. A neighbor and friend, a year older than me, just had his knee replaced. My younger sister broke her hip a couple of years ago. These events can cause a drastic reduction in physical activity.

Determining cause and effect is always a difficult issue in studies such as this. Just think of how many studies that have been published as to the effect of consuming alcohol, especially wine. Are moderate wine drinkers healthier because they tend to be more affluent than teetotalers? Or is wine actually good for most people? Is there a self selection/survivor effect in which unhealthy people and alcoholics are eliminated early in life and the resulting wine drinkers are not typical?

Whatever, I'm closing in on 80, loving life, new adventures, and having my red wine regularly (For medicinal purposes

 

[TekaroBB]

I’ve been thinking about this lately. Still have a couple of years until retirement, but would like to start preparing so I won’t end up alone if my wife dies before I do (also don’t want her to be lonely if I go first). Was playing with the idea of opening a B&B or something, where there would always be some people around (at least when I serve them breakfast). I don’t know. Either way, it feels sad that there’s so much loneliness in society.

I've always heard that the trick to happy and healthy retirement is to have active social outlets and hobbies outside of work. Granted I am in my thirties but it's something I always try to keep in mind for the future. Heard too many stories of workaholics who make it to 65 and die within 2 years of retiring because they just had nothing keeping them going.

Opening a B&B does just kinda sound like creating yourself a new job for your retirement, but as long it keeps you active, healthy, and is not causing you harm it's probably a good thing to have in your life.

I do know a bunch of retirees who picked up band instruments and joined a for-fun community band. Gives them an excuse to socialize at least once a week and a hobby to keep them active.

 

[MilanKraft]

Feel free to downvote like crazy given the AI-related suggestion I'm making below , but...

I've wondered if seniors with no other options (i.e. little/no available family, no community link) would benefit from an LLM-based chat companion that had a reasonable amount of "memory" in the sense that it could bring up topics from previous days, discuss news, TV show plots, etc -- just something to chat with to help with loneliness.

I also am utterly terrified about what corporations would do with an LLM box like this with regards to monthly fees, abusive marketing, stripping back the capabilities to make it just an annoyance, and the list goes on infinitely...

Why yes, yes you can have my downvote. Though I understand what you are saying in an abstract, "wouldn't it be nice" sorta way.

We don't live in a world where the people who make these mindless chatbots can be entrusted with any kind of care of the elderly (or the lonely from any age group)... indirect or otherwise.

 

[Dr Spiff]

This is another associative study. Elderly people, with better cognitive function, are more likely to be more outgoing and active. It could be that loneliness in the elderly is the RESULT of memory impairment. Elderly people who engage in physical activity, at least in part, do it because they can. Many of my peers have various physical issues. A neighbor and friend, a year older than me, just had his knee replaced. My younger sister broke her hip a couple of years ago. These events can cause a drastic reduction in physical activity.

Determining cause and effect is always a difficult issue in studies such as this. Just think of how many studies that have been published as to the effect of consuming alcohol, especially wine. Are moderate wine drinkers healthier because they tend to be more affluent than teetotalers? Or is wine actually good for most people? Is there a self selection/survivor effect in which unhealthy people and alcoholics are eliminated early in life and the resulting wine drinkers are not typical?

Whatever, I'm closing in on 80, loving life, new adventures, and having my red wine regularly (For medicinal purposes

Keeping active is a really good idea. Like many others, my activity levels dropped when the kids arrived and pressure at work ramped up. It was a gradual thing, just as it is for so many others, but a mistake nonetheless.

I did recently come across “Rebuilding mum and dad” on YouTube - I recommend having a look. It’s a series by a woman who started weight training with her 80+ year old parents - the results were amazing! There really should be strength training coaches in all retirement homes.

 

[SteveBigandTall]

I’ve been thinking about this lately. Still have a couple of years until retirement, but would like to start preparing so I won’t end up alone if my wife dies before I do (also don’t want her to be lonely if I go first). Was playing with the idea of opening a B&B or something, where there would always be some people around (at least when I serve them breakfast). I don’t know. Either way, it feels sad that there’s so much loneliness in society.

Only in America would the fix to being lonely be 'maybe I should just work more!'

 

[Fatesrider]

I think the title is a bullshit one.

And the story proves it:

Depression and chronic diseases such as diabetes also reduced the initial score. Loneliness, while influencing the starting point, did not accelerate the slope of cognitive decline.

The title was basically saying, "water can be wet but then it dries".

So memory impairment and loneliness aren't necessarily linked, nor does loneliness make things worse.

It's a Wired story, and it's lacking some critically necessary context. LOTS of things impact cognitive decline. LOTS of things impact memory impairment. Depression and one's mental health has long since been part of that discussion.

This is nothing new, nor insightful, nor really, relevant to anything we didn't already know.

After all, one's mental state can make one feel like they're lonely and isolated in an ocean of friends, and memory impairment over time is going to happen to just about everyone.

God what a junk article.

 

[Random_stranger]

Interestingly, a lot of these people that we'd now consider "old" are beginning to be programmers, tech nerds, engineers and even gamers. I'd love to see some research into how our kind fare in comparison to the rest when it comes to memory impairment and cognitive decline -- do we, in general, fare better, do we see even harsher drop or is there really any meaningful difference?

The conventional wisdom says that people who keep their brains busy fare better, so one might assume our kind to fare better, but at the same time as we age, we have less energy to keep ourselves busy, we tend to lose access to equipment or workspaces or such and I could see that just as well having a far harsher effect.

I'm not quite there yet (mid 50s), but have wondered this as well. I can see at minimum two possibilities:
1) we are constantly engaging our brains, etc, keeping them busy (refreshing the DNA-RAM, as it were), thinking of / quoting obscure nerdy trivia/quotes, etc. So maybe it will hit us less
2) we potentially used our brains harder / more extensively in terms of remembering all that tech stuff, we'll fall much faster and further

No idea which is more likely.

 

[Random_stranger]

I was raised in a fundamentalist / evangelical church setting, first in Germany, then Canada, and stuck to some of it when I moved to the US. One of the things constantly emphasized is "get-togethers". Socialization was a huge part of my life: hanging out with my best (also a geek) friend, participating in band/choir, church summer camp, etc, etc. When I moved to the US (multiple reasons), I kept that up mostly, for some time. After we had kids, it was harder, and then, I started to question things, and eventually, de-converted.

Now that I have a hard time listening to church stuff (there's a lot of resentment about all the "white lies", the beatification of Reagan / GOP, etc), I've lost a huge part of my social outlets. I do hope when I retire, I can join the over-50/60 softball leagues around here again (I did for a bit while laid off), etc.

But another thing I have found - the older I get, the less I can stand other people. Maybe it's because I'm a mix of conservative and progressive influences: I love watching/doing sports, car racing, etc - which seems to be mostly done by the most conservative people here in the Bay Area. It's hard to listen to people blab about how great Trump is when I'm trying to have fun.

OTOH, health permitting, there's a long list of stuff I still want to do when I retire, books to read, tv shows to catch up on, places to visit, etc. I can be bored and by myself and ok - I grew up in the 80s - but I don't expect that to be the case for a good long time yet..

 

[clewis]

Why yes, yes you can have my downvote. Though I understand what you are saying in an abstract, "wouldn't it be nice" sorta way.

We don't live in a world where the people who make these mindless chatbots can be entrusted with any kind of care of the elderly (or the lonely from any age group)... indirect or otherwise.

Oh man, if I only I didn't have ethics and morals.

I watched a movie a while ago, I Care A Lot. A lady gets old people committed so she can administer their estate, then spends all their money paying herself various fees. Just imagine a Joe Rogan or Alex Jones chatbot companion.

 

[clewis]

Keeping active is a really good idea. Like many others, my activity levels dropped when the kids arrived and pressure at work ramped up. It was a gradual thing, just as it is for so many others, but a mistake nonetheless.

I did recently come across “Rebuilding mum and dad” on YouTube - I recommend having a look. It’s a series by a woman who started weight training with her 80+ year old parents - the results were amazing! There really should be strength training coaches in all retirement homes.

My activity levels dropped when the kids were young, but came back up as they got older. First lots of trips to the park, then hiking.

But then my activity levels really dropped once they started driving. They still went hiking, or to the beach, but now it was with their friends instead of us.

Then we got a herding dog...

 

[Veritas super omens]

I was raised in a fundamentalist / evangelical church setting, first in Germany, then Canada, and stuck to some of it when I moved to the US. One of the things constantly emphasized is "get-togethers". Socialization was a huge part of my life: hanging out with my best (also a geek) friend, participating in band/choir, church summer camp, etc, etc. When I moved to the US (multiple reasons), I kept that up mostly, for some time. After we had kids, it was harder, and then, I started to question things, and eventually, de-converted.

Now that I have a hard time listening to church stuff (there's a lot of resentment about all the "white lies", the beatification of Reagan / GOP, etc), I've lost a huge part of my social outlets. I do hope when I retire, I can join the over-50/60 softball leagues around here again (I did for a bit while laid off), etc.

But another thing I have found - the older I get, the less I can stand other people. Maybe it's because I'm a mix of conservative and progressive influences: I love watching/doing sports, car racing, etc - which seems to be mostly done by the most conservative people here in the Bay Area. It's hard to listen to people blab about how great Trump is when I'm trying to have fun.

OTOH, health permitting, there's a long list of stuff I still want to do when I retire, books to read, tv shows to catch up on, places to visit, etc. I can be bored and by myself and ok - I grew up in the 80s - but I don't expect that to be the case for a good long time yet..


Bolding mine. I must agree. Gross generalization of course but...yeah. So very many selfish assholes.

 

[Vnend]

But another thing I have found - the older I get, the less I can stand other people. Maybe it's because I'm a mix of conservative and progressive influences: I love watching/doing sports, car racing, etc - which seems to be mostly done by the most conservative people here in the Bay Area. It's hard to listen to people blab about how great Trump is when I'm trying to have fun.

OTOH, health permitting, there's a long list of stuff I still want to do when I retire, books to read, tv shows to catch up on, places to visit, etc. I can be bored and by myself and ok - I grew up in the 80s - but I don't expect that to be the case for a good long time yet..

If you like motorsports, I'd suggest checking out the local autocross scene (the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) is a good place to start, as any model car can fit in their classification system (so, say, your Miata isn't competing in the class as a late model Corvette or Porsche).

Like anything, it takes a while to learn, though these days there are a lot more locally hosted schools to help folks getting started. I started in the '70s with a Fiat, then took some time away from it until the mid-90s, when a coworker got me back into it.

They do inspect your car before it's allowed to run, for safety reasons but otherwise it's not hard to get started, and you'll want to walk the course a time or two before you run it, and you'll be asked to 'work' somewhere on the course (so a little exercise) and folks new to the sport will be paired with experienced AXers their first few events, to reset cones that get knocked over or displaced before the next car comes through. Sometimes you get a position that seldom has a cone hit, others... can be a good workout.

And, at least from '97 to 2008 or so, I don't recall much (if any) in the way of "politics" as a topic of conversation at events. Also, even the relatively limited experience I got in the '70s did make me a better driver, in both emergencies and just dealing with everyday traffic, so while 'practicality' isn't often cited as a reason to do it, it can be beneficial anyway.

 

[Random_stranger]

If you like motorsports, I'd suggest checking out the local autocross scene (the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) is a good place to start, as any model car can fit in their classification system (so, say, your Miata isn't competing in the class as a late model Corvette or Porsche).

Like anything, it takes a while to learn, though these days there are a lot more locally hosted schools to help folks getting started. I started in the '70s with a Fiat, then took some time away from it until the mid-90s, when a coworker got me back into it.

They do inspect your car before it's allowed to run, for safety reasons but otherwise it's not hard to get started, and you'll want to walk the course a time or two before you run it, and you'll be asked to 'work' somewhere on the course (so a little exercise) and folks new to the sport will be paired with experienced AXers their first few events, to reset cones that get knocked over or displaced before the next car comes through. Sometimes you get a position that seldom has a cone hit, others... can be a good workout.

And, at least from '97 to 2008 or so, I don't recall much (if any) in the way of "politics" as a topic of conversation at events. Also, even the relatively limited experience I got in the '70s did make me a better driver, in both emergencies and just dealing with everyday traffic, so while 'practicality' isn't often cited as a reason to do it, it can be beneficial anyway.

I've tried auto-x twice. It sucked FOR me. 5+ hours of waiting around to do 3 laps for 1.5 minutes each, and knock over a bunch of pylons. Went to an auto-x "school" day, and ruined a set of nearly-new PS4 tires on the skid pad (AWD) - had I known, would not have done the skid pad. That was my fault, but it still sucked.

Now I do track days (HPDE) - was going to go for the first time the week Covid shut everything down. Started going in 2021 instead. I've gone 8 times, and loved it every time - last time, took my daughter. It's just seeing some MAGA hats, especially from the biggest assholes (the guy who got moved back to beginner class because he wouldn't stop passing people without a point-by), hearing people talk about "stupid liberals", "Trump is right", etc. isn't great. I do get that CA is maybe too hard on modified cars for many enthusiast's likings, and the "you can never convert a street car to a track car" crap was ludicrous, but I also understand the environmental reasons behind it, and I'm ok with that.

 

[bebu]

But another thing I have found - the older I get, the less I can stand other people. Maybe it's because I'm a mix of conservative and progressive influences: I love watching/doing sports, car racing, etc - which seems to be mostly done by the most conservative people here in the Bay Area. It's hard to listen to people blab about how great Trump is when I'm trying to have fun.

The memory might go out the window with age but better judgment comes through the front door.

Personally I just don't bother. I notice spoken language processing declines surprisingly quickly with lack of use but other forms of symbolic processing (mathematics, programming, written language etc) are independently retained if still used.

FWIW: In AU there is a community level movement called Men's Shed that has spread elsewhere (including rather surprisingly the US) which has constructively tackled the reengagement of older men. Women are not excluded - a few have joined the men to learn how to use their late husband's handyman tools; others just to learn. A cohesive, inclusive community is probably the best investment to ensure a longer healthier life span.

 

[jf1450]

Many of my peers have various physical issues. A neighbor and friend, a year older than me, just had his knee replaced. My younger sister broke her hip a couple of years ago. These events can cause a drastic reduction in physical activity.

A year ago last October my 80 year old sister had shoulder surgery. She too had a drastic reduction in physical activity. She died from infection.

I plan on dying with all the parts I was given, pain or no pain.