Aging carries many unpleasant changes with it. One of them is memory loss, which seriously affects one’s life. A study made by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) pointed out that a satisfying social life in American old people decelerates the evolution of memory loss.  

"We hope this study adds to and advances our growing understanding of the important role that social forces play in shaping health," said Karen Ertel, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Society, Human Development and Health at HSPH, as Science Daily informs.

The study involved more than 16,000 people over age 50. They were tested four times from 1998 through 2004 (1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004). Each verifying consisted of scoring participants on five aspects of their social lives: marital status, volunteer activities, and contact with parents, children, and neighbors. Then they had to listen to a series of ten common words. After five minutes and after another unrelated conversation, they were asked to enlist the words they remembered. The participants also answered questions about their physical and mental health.

The outcome of the research revealed that individuals with the highest social integration had the slowest rate of memory decline within the six years. To be more specific, the evolution of the affection was by 50% slower than in case of the persons least integrated.  It was made clear by the specialists that the findings were in no connection with sociodemographic factors (such as age, gender, and race) and health status in 1998.