Researchers found that seniors who had a constricted life space were almost twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease as seniors whose life space extended well beyond the home. “Life space may represent a new way to identify, our of a group of older person displaying no memory or thinking problems who is likely to go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease,” said Bryan James, PhD, an epidemiologist in the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center and the Study’s lead investigator.
Confinement to the home was also associated with an increased risk of mild cognitive impairment, often a precursor of Alzheimer’s, and a more rapid rate of cognitive decline, the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
“The reasons why a constricted life space is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease is no clear,” Dr. James said. “Underlying pathology may explain the result. Certain disease processes in the brain may affect how far we move through the world years before they affect our memory and thinking. Or perhaps lie space is an indicator of how much we are actively engaging and challenging our cognitive abilities.”
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