The revered Dr. Michael
Beckman sent me a recently published Associated Press article by
Malcom Ritter on research suggesting that “having a big belly in your 40s can boost your risk of getting Alzheimer's disease or other dementia decades later.”
By ‘big belly’ the researchers, headed by Rachel
Whitmer of the Kaiser
Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif, are not talking simply about weight. Although obesity can increase the risk of later Alzheimer disease, there seems to be “a separate risk from storing a lot of fat in the abdomen” even for people who were not overweight.
This is another example of how traits which predispose to the development of heart disease are also linked to later dementia.
Key excerpts from the article are as follows:
“That abdominal fat, sometimes described as making people apple-shaped rather than pear-shaped, has already been linked to higher risk of developing diabetes, stroke and heart disease.
"Now we can add dementia to that," said study author Rachel
Whitmer. “She and others report the findings in Wednesday's online issue of the journal Neurology.
Analysis found that compared to people in the study with normal body weight and a low belly measurement:
- 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.”
Thanks for the article, Dr.
Beckmann .
By ‘big belly’ the researchers, headed by Rachel Whitmer of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif, are not talking simply about weight. Although obesity can increase the risk of later Alzheimer disease, there seems to be “a separate risk from storing a lot of fat in the abdomen” even for people who were not overweight.
This is another example of how traits which predispose to the development of heart disease are also linked to later dementia.
Key excerpts from the article are as follows:
“That abdominal fat, sometimes described as making people apple-shaped rather than pear-shaped, has already been linked to higher risk of developing diabetes, stroke and heart disease.
"Now we can add dementia to that," said study author Rachel Whitmer.
“She and others report the findings in Wednesday's online issue of the journal Neurology.
Analysis found that compared to people in the study with normal body weight and a low belly measurement:
- 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.”
Thanks for the article, Dr. Beckmann .