It’s no secret that cases of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are on the rise. In fact, data from 2022 found that nearly 10% of American adults ages 65 and older have dementia. Another 22% experience mild cognitive impairment. An even more unsettling fact is that dementia cases are projected to double by the year 2060. That means that new dementia cases will rise to reach one million per year. 

Researchers note that the current lifetime risk of developing dementia after age 55 is 42%. Women face an even higher likelihood due to their longer life expectancy. Although aging is the dominant risk factor at the moment, health conditions including hypertension, poor mental health, obesity, and diabetes can contribute to the rising crisis. These projections are grim, but there are things you can do to delay, or at least reduce, your risk of developing dementia. A recent study, however, found that there is one promising solution to delaying the onset of dementia: staying socially engaged. 

Late-life Social Activity Could Delay Dementia Onset By Five Years

The recent study of conversation was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of Alzheimer’s Association. It highlighted how frequent social interactions could help preserve cognitive health into old age. The study involved about 2,000 older adults for a period of nearly six to seven years. Researchers tracked their social engagement and cognitive status. 

The results indicated that those who were the most socially active delayed the onset of dementia by five years compared to those with minimal social interactions. Study authors also observed a lower risk of mild cognitive impairment, which is an early stage of memory decline. More specifically, study authors found that the participants who were more socially engaged had: 

• A 38% lower risk of developing dementia
• A 21% lower risk of mild cognitive impairment

These findings highlight the role that social connections play in maintaining brain health. More importantly, social connections may reduce the national burden of cognitive decline. 

How Does Socializing Benefit The Brain?

According to study authors, the mechanisms behind this brain boost are not fully understood yet. At the moment, researchers put forth the following theories:

• Stress reduction: Having positive social interactions on a regular basis can help reduce chronic stress, which can harm the brain. Lowering your stress levels can help protect the hippocampus, which is the region of the brain that is essential for memory.
• Cognitive stimulation: Social interaction not only provides mental challenges, but also diverse conversations that can promote new neural connections, a process called neurogenesis. This is integral to delaying the onset of dementia, considering that altered neurogenesis has been identified in Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. 
• Physical activity: More often than not, social interactions are typically coupled with some sort of movement. You may have a lunch date, which involves sitting, but you can take a walk or engage in a yoga class with a friend as well. Incorporating more movement into your social interactions can help protect against cognitive decline. 
• Hormonal balance: According to research, social engagement helps regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. This helps control stress responses and can influence overall brain health. 

What Can You Do?

If you want to stay socially engaged as you age, you don’t have to make tremendous alterations to your life. A few simple ideas can help foster new social connections, and a few examples are:

• Volunteer: Giving back to the community is a great way to meet new people in your community. Not only that, but it provides a sense of purpose!
• Keep learning: Perhaps there is something you want to learn, and your age shouldn’t stop you from doing that. Enroll in a course or attend a workshop that encourages learning and interaction. 
• Join a club: This could be a book club, gardening group, or local ceramics class. These classes  harbor people with shared interests, which usually ignite conversations and connections. 
• Stay physically active: It’s no secret that exercise offers brain-boosting benefits. Rather than just working out by yourself, though, health experts encourage you to take fitness classes or join a physically active group to get the social and physical benefits.

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“The greatest good is what we do for one another.” Helping others is the way we help ourselves.

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Pay It Forward. When you give, you’re more likely to get back.

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“It is in giving that we receive. We sow abundantly, we reap abundantly.” – Choa Kok Su

Just like with love, with money, the more we give, the more we gain or receive. We gain what we give. It’s that simple!

There is a complimentary energy when we give and that complimentary energy supports receiving. There is no giving without receiving and no receiving with giving. They both compliment each other. Always remember this!

If you are a Giver and have difficulty receiving, you are imbalanced. To be healthy and balanced you must learn to receive, to accept! You must and there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

If you are a Receiver and have difficulty giving, you are likewise imbalanced. To be healthy and balanced you must learn to give, to share! You must and there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it!

Remember that all energy is cyclical so what you give will come back around to you and that’s why you must be open to receive.

If someone offers to give you something, accept it, and accept it with gratitude, appreciation, and love!

Many of us have difficulty receiving because we have been trained to give something in return due to a sense of guilt. If someone gives you something and you didn’t ask for it, why do you feel guilty about receiving the things?

Perhaps past situations are to blame. For example, a male friend wanted to take you out (his treat) and you went out and had a good time, but when it was time to end the date or outing, the guy wanted something in return.

Many of us can relate to this scenario, males as well as females.

We have been programmed to look for the “catch” from past experiences (and/or observations) and subconsciously that’s why many of us attract ourselves to people, situations, and circumstances that come with a “catch.”

“We can go out but at the end of the day I want to hit the booty!” This is a catch!

“I’ll loan you the money but I’ll need you to do…” This is a catch!

“If I do this for you, will you do this for me?” This is a catch!

We have created a world of catches, ultimatums, conditions, and deals. We live a gigantic “let’s make a deal” world. Even in courts of law we can find deal making. What do you think prosecutors and public defenders are all about? DEALS!!!! They don’t want trials. Trials are too costly! That’s why the legal system created “plea bargains.” Basically, if you offer the plea we want you to offer, we’ll give you a deal or a bargain.

So instead of serving 6 months in jail, if you plea to the charge we want you to plead to (because it makes our job easier and saves us prosecutors time and money) we’ll let you pay a fine and perform a certain amount of hours of community service. You have been given a bargain for your plea, hence, a “plea bargain.”

Most of our relationships are also based on bargains and deals as well.

“You help me pay these bills and I’ll give you some sex!”

“You cook and clean the house and I’ll take care of making the money and will give you an allowance.”

“You’re a singer? Well I’m a producer. I can help you! Come on down to the studio and I’ll get you started.” But you see, when you get down to the studio, you hear another song. The song entitled “What you gon’ do for me?”

We must learn to give unconditionally!

“Appreciation and love, and alignment to that which is Source, is the ultimate “giving back,” so to speak, for in your pain or struggle, you have nothing to give back. What you are living is always an exact replication of your vibrational patterns of thought. Nothing could be more fair than life as you are living it, for as you are thinking, you are vibrating, and as you are vibrating, you are attracting-and so you are always getting back the essence of what you are giving.” – Esther and Jerry Hicks

Thank you for reading!

This article is compliments of Dherbs.com.

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