Bereavement of a spouse is one of the most stressful experiences of a person's lifetime.



It has been confirmed through previous studies that this kind of stress increases the risk of depression, cardiovascular disease (stroke, myocardial infarction), and dementia as well as mental pain.



Among them, dementia is reported to be particularly high risk in the elderly who have experienced spouse bereavement.



According to a meta-analysis study of 15 domestic and foreign papers, the risk of developing dementia for 3 to 15 years was found to be 20% higher on average for the elderly who experienced spouse bereavement than those who did not.



However, as to why the risk of dementia due to spouse bereavement increases, there have been several hypotheses, such as the accumulation of proteins that cause dementia, but no pathological changes in the brain have been confirmed.



A research team in Korea has published a research result that can answer these questions for the first time.



A joint research team led by Professor Lee Dong-young of the Department of Psychiatry at Seoul National University Hospital and Professor Ji-wook Kim of Hallym University Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital conducted a comprehensive clinical evaluation and brain image analysis of 319 elderly people (61 to 90 years old) who had been married before the change of cerebral pathology following the death of a spouse. announced today (20th) that it has confirmed the association that affects the onset of dementia.



The results of this study were published in the latest issue of the international scientific journal 'Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience'.



The research team selected 128 participants according to the ratio of age and sex among all study participants and divided them into a bereavement group (59 people) and a control group (59 people). Positron tomography (PET) was performed.



As a result, a significant increase in 'brain white matter degeneration' (WMH) was observed in the widowed group compared to the non-partisan group.



Brain white matter refers to the part that appears white on the side of the brain in the MRI image, and the ecology in which small blood vessels spread in this white matter are damaged is called brain white matter degeneration.



The greater the degeneration, the greater the risk of dementia and stroke.



This study found that this brain white matter degeneration is more severe in the elderly and bereaved.



Cognitive decline related to dementia was also a characteristic of the widowed group.



The research team explained, "The shock and stress after the death of a spouse can lead to brain white matter degeneration, which can be seen as worsening into cognitive decline and dementia."



The study team explained that spouse bereavement did not affect the deposition of beta-amyloid or tau protein, which is associated with Alzheimer's disease, the causative disease of dementia.



Professor Lee Dong-young said, "The results of this study suggest that active interest and efforts are needed to reduce vascular cerebral white matter damage to prevent dementia and cognitive decline, which are frequently observed in the elderly who have lost their spouse."



Professor Lee said, "The representative risk factors for vascular brain damage other than bereavement are high blood pressure, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and smoking. "In terms of public health care, active intervention is needed to reduce the risk of dementia for the elderly who have lost their spouses," he said.