Health: Listening as a Cure for Alzheimer’s

Currently around 100,000 people in Austria suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. It is estimated that more than 150 million people worldwide will be affected by dementia by 2050. The symptomatic cycle often begins with memory and language disorders.

There is currently no cure for these diseases, only medications to relieve symptoms. Relief is also in a very simple way and is now a team that exists Joel Salinas From New York University (NYU) Carefully Examined: Listen.

Mentally four years younger

In their articles just published in the journal “JAMA Network Open”, the researchers demonstrated studyMemory and other mental functions are better in people with a healthy social environment. “People can do something to protect themselves or loved ones from cognitive aging and Alzheimer’s symptoms,” Salinas says in one. New York University broadcast. Test subjects who are good listeners in their environment, are less than four years old mentally.

Brain size and cognitive skills

For the study, researchers evaluated data from more than 2,000 men and women, with an average age of 63, including general health and socioeconomic information, brain volumes determined using magnetic resonance imaging, and cognitive abilities such as memory.

From this they deduced people’s “cognitive plasticity” – the brain’s resistance to natural deteriorating processes – and related it to self-reported information about the participants’ social environment. One of the questions asked was whether someone liked someone, could give advice or listen well.

The latter turned out to be an essential component. According to the study, a 40- or 50-year-old who rarely talks about life and its joys and fears was cognitively older than people with a sufficient audience by four years.

“Find good listeners – and be one yourself”

“These four years can be very valuable,” Salinas says. Most people think about mental health too late — often decades after disease-causing behaviors have creeped in. You can do exactly that Today Ask the question if someone is actually listening and offering you support.” This may significantly improve quality of life after many years. So clinicians should ask their patients this question as a standard, Salinas asserts. “Loneliness is a symptom of depression, But it also has other health effects.”

Salinas says the way in which the biological mechanism linking brain health to psychosocial factors is not entirely clear yet. However, the current study points to “concrete biological reasons why we all look for good listeners – and we should also try to become each other.”