Pets help ward off dementia in older people living alone

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-12-27 03:00

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Over-50s living alone are at high risk of developing dementia, but having a pet could help, according to new research. People living with no one but their pets had slower rates of decline in verbal memory and fluency than people living fully alone, but pet ownership didn't make a difference to those living with other humans. The researchers say that it can be harder to find another person to live with than a pet, so it could be a relatively simple change to improve rates of dementia, however this research can only point out the link, and further research is needed before saying that pets are causing the slower rate of decline.