Being more socially active in your 50s and 60s predicts a lower risk of developing dementia later on, finds a new UCL-led study.
The longitudinal study, published in PLOS Medicine, reports the most robust evidence to date that social contact earlier in life could play an important role in staving off dementia.
“Dementia is a major global health challenge, with one million people expected to have dementia in the UK by 2021, but we also know that one in three cases are potentially preventable,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Andrew Sommerlad (UCL Psychiatry).
“Here we’ve found that social contact, in middle age and late life, appears to lower the risk of dementia. This…
