"Obesity doubles the risk of Alzheimer's" is the headline in the Daily Express. It and other news sources report new research which found that people who are obese have an increased risk of all types of dementia. Being underweight "increased the risk of any kind of dementia by 36 per cent, while being obese increased it by 42 per cent. For Alzheimer's disease, being obese increased the risk by 80 per cent", the newspaper says.
The study that the newspaper story is based on has some limitations, as it combines the results of 10 studies that were of variable quality and characteristics. The increases in risk of dementia from obesity were not statistically significant, and the 80% increase in risk of Alzheimer's was only of borderline significance, which means that it may still be a chance finding.
Alzheimer's disease is a form of dementia with characteristic clinical features and changes to the brain that can only be seen at autopsy and, currently, the causes are unknown. While age and heredity are the most established risk factors, those of overweight and obesity remain uncertain. It seems plausible that being obese may be associated with an increased risk of dementia, in particular vascular dementia, as obesity frequently occurs in conjunction with raised blood pressure, high cholesterol and possibly smoking, all of which increase the risk of damage to the blood vessels in the body. However, further research will be needed to clearly establish any link. It was published in the peer-reviewed publication by The International Association for the Study of Obesity: Obesity Reviews.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
posted by Valery Yermalitsky at
6:39 AM
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