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15th April 2008
Obesity and Dementia -
Big Bellies Have Greater Chance of Dementia
By Cliff Baker
Not just being overweight, but having a big belly in your 40s
can increase the risk of getting dementia related illnesses like
Alzheimer’s, a new study suggests.
Obesity and having a high percentage of body fat are linked to
a plethora of health problems – now including dementia – but only
those with high fat content in the thorax regions – the beer
belly – are at greater risk of getting dementia related illnesses
later in life.
Even people who weren't overweight were susceptible; in other
words, if you have a high concentration of fat in your mid
section – belly fat – even if you are not considered overweight
using standard BMI (Body Mass Index) tables, you can be at a
greater risk for dementia in your 60s and 70s.
It goes back to the apple body shape (bad) vs. the pear body
shape (still not good, but better). The apple shaped persons have
already been linked to higher risk of developing diabetes, stroke
and heart disease.
“Now we can add dementia to that,” stated researcher Rachel
Whitmer, of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in
Oakland, CA who conducted the study.
They studied 6,583 men and women aged 40 to 45 between 1964
and 1973. As part of an exam, their belly size was measured with
a caliper to find the distance between their backs and upper
abdomens. For the study, a distance of about 10 inches or more
was considered high.
Then, the researchers checked medical records to see who had
developed Alzheimer's or another form of dementia by an average
of 35+ years later. At that point the participants were ages 73
to 87. There were 1,049 cases.
The difference between persons with normal measurements and
those “thick” persons were:
- Participants with normal body weight and
high belly measurements were 89 percent more likely to
have dementia.
- Overweight people were 82 percent more
likely if they had a low belly measurement, but more than
twice as likely if they had a high belly measurement.
- Obese people were 81 percent more likely
if they had a low belly measurement, but more than three
times as likely if they had a high measurement.
The researchers said that the measurements were not definitive
since no standard exists to measure belly fat, but most people
have a sense of whether they have a big belly - the new study
suggests they should get rid of it, they said.
The mechanisms are not known as to why abdominal fat would
promote dementia, but it may produce substances that harm the
brain, they said.
Dr. Jose Luchsinger of the Columbia University Medical Center
in New York, who studies the connection between obesity and
Alzheimer's disease but didn't participate in the new work,
cautioned that such a study cannot prove abdominal fat promotes
dementia.
But the study results are “highly plausible” and “…not
surprising at all,” he said. “High insulin levels might help
explain them”, he said.
Dr. Samuel Gandy, who chairs the medical and scientific
advisory council of the Alzheimer's Association, said the results
fit in with previous work that indicates a person's
characteristics in middle age can affect the risk of dementia in
later life.
And it's another example of how traits associated with the
risk of developing heart disease are also linked to later
dementia, he said.
Two interesting things came out of the study that cry out for
further investigation. First, are those who are genetically
predisposed to carry upper body fat also genetically susceptible
to dementia?
In this case, it wouldn’t matter if you were overweight or not
– you would still be likely to get dementia thanks to bad
genetics. Unfortunately, the same set of genes that leads to
dementia may also make you prone to have a big belly.
Second, what effect does exercise have on individuals after
being categorized as being in the high risk group? The mention of
people who had big bellies yet were not considered overweight but
also suffered from the same risk as those who were, leads one to
believe that being in good shape could also be a factor to help
stave off dementia in later years – even when you are not
considered overweight.
Dementia can also be protected against by keeping an active
mind – those with higher educations and active brains suffer less
from dementia than potato-like TV watchers.
In any case, its reason enough to keep your body fat
percentage down – not just your weight - and get plenty of
regular exercise.
And it’s just one more reason – a really good one – to get
going on your fat burner program. Before the dementia sets in and
you forget, that is!
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