Health
Loneliness may be silently eroding your memory, new research reveals
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Feeling lonely may take a toll on older adults’ memory — but it may not speed up cognitive decline, according to a new study.
Researchers from Colombia, Spain and Sweden analyzed data from more than 10,000 adults ages 65 to 94 across 12 European countries and found those who reported higher levels of loneliness did worse on memory tests at the start of the study, according to research published this month in the journal Aging & Mental Health.
Over a seven-year period, however, memory decline occurred at a similar rate regardless of how lonely participants felt.
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“The finding that loneliness significantly impacted memory, but not the speed of decline in memory over time was a surprising outcome,” lead author Dr. Luis Carlos Venegas-Sanabria of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Universidad del Rosario said in a statement.
Loneliness may be linked to memory performance in older adults, a new study suggests. (iStock)
“It suggests that loneliness may play a more prominent role in the initial state of memory than in its progressive decline,” Venegas-Sanabria said, adding that the findings highlight the importance of addressing loneliness as a factor in cognitive performance.
The findings add to debate about whether loneliness contributes to dementia risk. While loneliness and social isolation are often considered risk factors for cognitive decline, research results have been mixed.
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The study looked at data from the long-running Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which tracked 10,217 older adults between 2012 and 2019. Participants were asked to recall words immediately and after a delay to measure memory performance.
Social isolation and loneliness could play a surprising role in cognitive health among seniors. (iStock)
Loneliness was assessed using three questions about how often participants felt isolated, left out or lacking companionship.
About 8% of participants reported high levels of loneliness at the outset. That group tended to be older, more likely to be female and more likely to have conditions such as depression.
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Researchers found that those with higher loneliness had lower scores on both immediate and delayed memory tests at baseline. Still, all groups — regardless of loneliness level — experienced similar declines in memory over time.
The results suggest loneliness may not directly accelerate the progression of memory loss, though it remains linked to poorer cognitive performance overall.
Researchers look at a brain scan at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
Experts warn, however, that the findings should not be interpreted to mean loneliness is harmless.
“The finding that lonely older adults start with worse memory but don’t decline faster is actually the most interesting part of the paper, and I think it’s easy to misread,” said Jordan Weiss, Ph.D., a scientific advisor and aging expert at Assisted Living Magazine and a professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
“It likely means loneliness does its damage earlier in life, well before people show up in a study like this at 65-plus,” Weiss told Fox News Digital.
By older age, long-term social patterns may already be established, making it harder to detect when the effects of loneliness first took hold, an aging expert says. (iStock)
He suggested that by older age, long-term social patterns may already be established, making it harder to detect when the effects of loneliness first took hold.
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“By the time you’re measuring someone in their late 60s, decades of social connection patterns are already baked in,” he said.
Weiss, who was not involved in the research, added that loneliness may coincide with other health conditions, and noted that participants who felt more isolated also had higher rates of depression, high-blood pressure and diabetes. The link, he said, may reflect a cluster of health risks rather than a direct cause.
“While they can go hand-in-hand, it’s not clear that loneliness contributes to dementia,” a psychotherapist says. (iStock)
Amy Morin, a Florida-based psychotherapist and author, said the findings reflect a broader pattern in research on loneliness and brain health, and that the relationship may be more complex than it appears.
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“The evidence shows there’s a link between loneliness and cognitive decline but there’s no direct evidence of a cause and effect relationship,” she said. “So while they can go hand-in-hand, it’s not clear that loneliness contributes to dementia.”
Morin added that loneliness, which can fluctuate, may not be the root of the problem, but rather a symptom of other underlying mental or physical health issues.
Researchers suggested screening for loneliness be incorporated into routine cognitive assessments as one way to support healthy aging. (iStock)
She said staying socially and mentally engaged is crucial for overall brain health.
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“It’s important to be proactive about social activities,” Morin said. “Joining a book club, having coffee with a friend, or attending faith-based services can be a powerful way to maintain connections in older age.”
The researchers also suggested screening for loneliness be incorporated into routine cognitive assessments as one way to support healthy aging.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for comment.
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Researchers have shed fresh light on how a simple, centuries-old Chinese practice could be almost as effective as some medications in lowering blood pressure.
Baduanjin is a form of exercise that’s been widely practiced in China for at least 800 years. It involves a series of eight slow movements, gentle breathing and meditation — and typically takes only about 10 minutes to complete.
In a clinical trial, researchers studied 216 adults age 40 and older with Stage 1 hypertension. Over the course of a year, participants performed either baduanjin, self-directed exercise or brisk walking.
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Researchers found that participants who practiced baduanjin five times per week experienced lower blood pressure within three months.
The results were “comparable to reductions seen with some first-line medications,” they wrote in their report published by the American College of Cardiology.
High blood pressure, if left untreated, can lead to heart attack and stroke. Now, researchers have shed new light on how a simple, centuries-old Chinese practice could be almost as effective as some medications in lowering blood pressure. (andreswd/Getty Images)
Baduanjin also showed “comparable results and safety profile to brisk walking at one year,” the researchers further reported.
“Given its simplicity, safety and ease at which one can maintain long-term adherence, baduanjin can be implemented as an effective, accessible and scalable lifestyle intervention for individuals trying to reduce their [blood pressure],” said the senior author of the study, Jing Li, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Matthew Saybolt, medical director of the Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center’s Structural Heart Disease Program, said he was surprised by an aspect of the study’s results.
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“I was biased and expected that higher intensity exercise like brisk walking would have resulted in greater improvement in blood pressure than baduanjin, but the effects were the same,” Saybolt told Fox News Digital. (He was not affiliated with the study.)
Dr. Antony Chu, clinical assistant professor at Brown University’s Warren Alpert School of Medicine, was born and raised in the U.S. to immigrant parents — his mother is from Hong Kong and his father is from Taiwan.
Practitioners of baduanjin, such as those in this class, incorporate slow movements with mindful breathing. (Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images)
Having spent a lot of summers in Asia, Chu told Fox News he experienced “the best of both worlds” concerning Eastern and Western medicine, including exposure to the benefits of baduanjin.
“[These researchers] are taking a lot of things that have been commonplace for many, many centuries or millennia and then just applying mathematical modeling and statistical analysis to sort of give [them] some credibility,” Chu said.
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“Western medicine is reactionary,” Chu also said.
He compared the philosophies to a house on fire: Eastern medicine practitioners are more invested in preventing the fire, whereas Western medicine is more focused on “all those things that it would need to do to try to put that fire out,” he said, sharing his opinion.
A new study shows how people with high blood pressure can reduce it without medicine. (FG Trade/Getty Images)
Left untreated, high blood pressure has dangers that are “too numerous to count,” Saybolt said. The risks include increased risks of stroke, heart attack, atrial fibrillation and congestive heart failure.
Baduanjin, Chu said, is effective at reducing blood pressure, which he likened to “the water pressure and the pipes of your house,” by calming the nervous system and reducing stress.
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“People are totally stressed out,” Chu said. “And stress reduction is huge.”
Saybolt said the study offers hope for people with hypertension — “and that hope doesn’t immediately have to include pharmaceuticals.”
Baduanjin is easily incorporated into most lifestyles and can be done without equipment almost anywhere and at any time. (Getty Images)
Saybolt added that he’s always advocated for lifestyle modifications, including healthy diet and exercise, “as key therapies for treatment of diseases and to improve longevity.”
With the baduanjin data, Saybold said he is now “more optimistic than ever,” as “we have evidence that a very low impact exercise with mindfulness can yield a benefit.”
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Chu said that translating overwhelming medical guidelines is a big part of his job.
“It’s not to just tell somebody, ‘Hey, your blood pressure’s too high, pick a pill,” he said.
Baduanjin has been a preventative health practice the Chinese have been incorporating into their routines for centuries. (Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images)
“Lifestyle changes” can be daunting for many people, he added.
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“They always make it sound like you have to live for seven years in Tibet on a mountain somewhere, and it’s really not that.”
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His simple translation for the baduanjin study is this: “Close the door in your office and just say, ‘I can’t be bothered for 10 minutes,’ and just focus on breathing slowly and moving your arms or legs around.”
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Gabe Poirot says he ‘met Jesus’ during an 18-day coma
Kayleigh McEnany interviews Gabe Poirot, who shares his extraordinary near-death experience during an 18-day coma in October 2021. Poirot describes leaving his body, encountering Jesus, and witnessing how heaven is a person rather than a place. He also discusses his book, ’18 Days in Heaven,’ detailing his spiritual journey and message of hope.
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Rudy Giuliani, 81, is recovering from a severe case of viral pneumonia that led him into a coma in early May.
The former New York City mayor returned to his online talk show “America’s Mayor Live!” on May 13 and opened up about his health status.
“I feel like I’ve recovered 100%,” he said. “I’ve been home a few days and doing really, really well.”
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Giuliani reflected on his time in the hospital, revealing that he had a “very significant spiritual experience” while he was in a “state of out of it.”
“I would equate it to a dream of being on line headed for — I can’t say headed for heaven — headed for a trial with St. Peter,” he described.
Rudy Giuliani attends the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City in September 2024. The former New York City mayor, 81, is recovering from a severe case of viral pneumonia that led him into a coma in early May. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“And there was a very, very significant intervention by my Peter. I have my own Peter, Peter Powers. Peter J. Powers, my friend of my lifetime.”
During this dream state, Peter said some “very significant words,” which Giuliani made sure to repeat and have others record when he woke up, he shared.
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“As soon as I could, I wrote it out so that I wouldn’t forget it, and it’s meant a lot to me, and I’ve been reflecting on it quite a bit,” he added.
Giuliani was able to discuss his experience with a priest — and plans to share more at a different time.
“I don’t want to embellish it,” he said. “I don’t want to deny what was there.”
Powers and Giuliani reportedly became friends in high school. Powers later served as Giuliani’s campaign manager and his first deputy mayor. He died in 2016 at 72 years old from complications with lung cancer, according to multiple news outlets.
Giuliani was hospitalized in critical but stable condition on Sunday, May 3, due to severe breathing issues.
Giuliani’s doctor, Maria Ryan, told Fox News correspondent Danamarie McNicholl that the former mayor began feeling ill after returning from a trip to Paris, with his breathing deteriorating to the point that he was placed on a ventilator.
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Ryan said his condition turned critical, prompting a priest to be called to his bedside to perform last rites. But by Tuesday, Giuliani’s condition had improved enough for doctors to remove him from the ventilator.
According to political strategist Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s response and exposure to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks later led to a diagnosis of restrictive airway disease.
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani stands with Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and Emergency Management Director Richard Scheirer before dedicating a public viewing platform overlooking the World Trade Center attack site in New York on Dec. 29, 2001. (Kathy Willens/AP)
Although Giuliani and his doctors have not confirmed that he had a “near-death experience,” similar encounters are often reported by people emerging from critical medical situations.
In a 2023 review published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, researchers analyzed more than four decades of reports of near-death experiences, involving more than 2,000 studies and nearly 500 individuals.
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Near-death events were categorized into four types of experiences: emotional, cognitive, spiritual/religious and supernatural.
The research identified common traits in these reports – especially having out-of-body experiences, passing through a tunnel, having heightened senses, seeing deceased people or religious figures, encountering a bright light and reviewing life events.
A detailed view of the 19th century statue of Saint Peter the Apostle holding a gold key, symbolizing the key to heaven, located in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, Rome. (iStock)
Although these experiences can differ by interpretation, the researchers concluded that the heightened senses and improved consciousness indicate that “these experiences are neither dreams nor sleep, nor the disorders caused.”
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“This phenomenon is medically inexplicable,” they wrote, adding that the research points to a consistent pattern that “supports the clarity and authenticity of near-death experiences.”
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed reporting.
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