Fat linked to losing your mind

MAINTAINING a healthy weight may significantly reduce a persons risk of Alzheimers disease, Australian research suggests.
A pilot study of 18 mentally fit West Australians, aged between 23 and 64, showed those overweight or obese had higher levels of a protein known as beta amyloid in their blood, the same sticky substance found in high concentrations in the brains of Alzheimers patients.
Population-based research has previously shown a strong link between being overweight or obese in middle age and an increased risk of Alzheimers, but the Australian study is the first evidence to offer an explanation.
Although lead researcher Ralph Martins stressed the study was only preliminary, he said the results were “very striking”, clearly showing the more overweight a person is, the higher the levels of beta amyloid in the blood.
Prof Martins said of the two types of beta amyloid, the more toxic form of the protein known as beta amyloid 42, was the one found in more elevated concentrations in those who were overweight or obese.
Results of the pilot study have been published in the latest edition of the Journal of Alzheimers Disease.
The study has been extended to involve 300 mentally healthy West Australians who will have full body scans in a bid to determine whether higher concentrations of body fat in certain areas, such as around the abdomen, put people more at risk of Alzheimers.
Prof Martins said a Wisconsin study presented at a recent scientific meeting found men with beer bellies who were the children of Alzheimers sufferers had altered levels of beta amyloid in the fluid surrounding their brains.
The ultimate aim of the Australian research is to develop strategies to help people prevent, or at least delay, the onset of the disease.
Prof Martins said research in mice with high levels of beta amyloid had found treadmill exercises had markedly reduced the amount of the protein in their brains.
“We want to see whether we can implement exercise or weight loss programs to alter the beta amyloid levels in humans,” he said.