We know carrying extra weight around the stomach can increase the risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Now researchers say if you have a big belly… spare tire… abdominal fat (get the picture?) - when you’re in your 40s, you’re more likely to have Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia in your senior years. With the obesity problem we have in this country, this could affect so many people.
“Considering that 50 percent of adults in this country have abdominal obesity, this is a disturbing finding,” says study author Rachel Whitmer, Ph.D., a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California. “It is well known that being overweight in midlife and beyond increases risk factors for disease. However, where one carries the weight – especially in midlife - appears to be an important predictor for dementia risk.”
The study measured abdominal fat in 6,583 people ages 40-45 in northern California. It found 16-percent of participants had dementia an average of 36 years later.
Those who were obese and had a big belly were 3.6 times more likely to develop dementia than people with a normal weight and belly size. Those who were overweight with a large stomach were 2.3 times more likely, and adults who were a healthy weight but still had belly fat were 1.9 times more at risk.
Research still needs to be done to determine exactly what causes the link between obesity and dementia. It is also possible that the link is not caused by belly fat itself, but by a person’s health-related behaviors… and that abdominal obesity is just one part of the overall picture.
No matter what, you should get rid of that spare tire. Whitmer says the good news is the type of fat that builds up around the belly is relatively easy to get rid of compared to fat in other parts of the body. But as with any extra weight, the key to shedding it is to exercise more and eat less.
You can see the study in the online issue of the journal, Neurology.
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Tags: abdominal fat, Alzheimer's disease, mid-life, obesity, overweight, research
