Obesity's influence on dementia
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As populations age, all cognitive disorders, including dementia, become more common. Dementia affects 6–10% of people aged 65 years or older; two-thirds of whom have Alzheimer's disease (AD) (1). In fact, AD currently ranks as the eighth leading cause of death among the elderly in the United States (2) and a pooled analysis for mortality risk by dementia status yielded a risk ratio of 2.63 (2.17, 3.21), independently of age, sex and education (3). Despite its strong association with age (1,4), dementia is still considered a potentially preventable condition with a large number of possible modifiable risk factors. Dementia, particularly of the vascular type (VaD), is conceptually linked with cardiovascular complications. Recent research efforts have included AD as a potential outcome for poor cardiovascular profile (5). One group of risk factors is adiposity, particularly body mass index (BMI in kg m⁻²), obesity (BMI ≥ 30) and central obesity as measured by waist circumference (WC). However, there is still no consensus as to their direct impact on dementia, independently of associated cardiovascular factors, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia. Findings from recent cohort studies from diverse populations are mixed. Our meta-analysis suggests an independent effect of obesity on dementia in general and incident AD in particular, but the associations are moderate and overweight is not found as a significant risk factor. While the effect of BMI on dementia is a U-shaped one, reducing the prevalence of obesity is a promising strategy in preventing progression from normal ageing into AD. Future cohort studies should attempt to disentangle the effect of BMI from other components of the MetS, address residual confounding by other covariates such as physical activity and depressive symptoms and attempt to fully understand the related biological mechanisms. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com

Prebiotics going strong despite price rise

Prebiotic fibre specialist BENEO-Orafti says demand for its chicory root-derived ingredients has been unaffected by price hikes it implemented at the end of last year. http://www.nutraingredients.com

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