Date: 12/10/05 - Your weight at midlife may affect your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia in old age, according to a new study. Researchers found people who were obese at midlife were nearly 2...
Your weight at midlife may affect your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia in old age, according to a new study. Researchers found people who were obese at midlife were nearly 2.5 times more likely to develop dementia more than 20 years later than those who were normal weight. Obesity is increasing rapidly worldwide and is linked to other vascular diseases, such as heart disease and stroke. Both may play a role in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. But researchers say the link between obesity and dementia has not been thoroughly investigated. They say these results suggest that weight loss deserves further study as a possible means to reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Getting Older Without Adding Extra Weight
Obesity Tied to Dementia Risk
In the study, Swedish researchers looked at the relationship between body mass index (BMI, a measurement of weight in relation to height used to indicate obesity) at midlife and the subsequent risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in nearly 1,500 people.
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