A new study report released recently reveals that those who are obese and middle aged, risk developing dementia at triple the average rate. The study undertaken by the author Rachel Whitmer, in Oakland, California, found that adults in the US with abdominal obesity, will be exposed to a high risk of dementia. Obesity for middle aged and older people has been ascribed to increase the risk for diseases such as stroke, diabetes and heart failures.
This is the first finding that excess abdominal fat increases the risk of dementia even among those people who have an average weight ratio. Studying the abdominal fat cases of 6,583 people between the age group of 40 to 45, the report found that 36 years later, 16% had developed dementia (in The Journal of Neurology).
Those who were overweight or obese but did not have a pot belly had an 80% increase in the risk of dementia compared to people with a normal body weight and abdominal fat.
According to Ms.Whitmer, the risk of dementia increased by 230% to those people with a overweight and larger belly and increased by 360% among the people who were obese with a large belly.
While research is going on to find out why this link exists, it is possible that the abdominal fat is a part of complex set of health related effects that affect the brain. Indeed, autopsies have shown that high abdominal fat in elderly adults was tied to greater brain atrophy. These studies show that the dangerous effects of abdominal obesity on the brain may start long before the onset of dementia.
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