Belly Fat May Cause Dementia

Losing weight now may keep you from getting dementia later, according to a study with more than 700 middle-aged participants.  “From a public health point of view, I think the immediate message is, if you aren’t as concerned about reducing belly fat for concerns of heart attack and stroke, do consider that it might also increase your risk of dementia,” said the study’s author, Dr. Sudha Seshadri, of Boston University School of Medicine.

The study, which began in 1971 as the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort, consisted of participants who were on average 60 years old. Participants underwent MRI scans of their brains as well as CT scans of their abdomens in order to determine more accurately the amount of abdominal fat they had. The CT scan provided much more detail than simple waist measurements and allowed the researchers to study any differences between visceral fat (the fat that wraps itself around the abdominal organs) and subcutaneous fat (the fat just under the surface of the skin).

Seshadri and the other researchers involved in the study also compared other obesity measures including body mass index (BMI). BMI is a ratio of the person’s height and weight that is often used to determine obesity. They also measured the ration of the waist to the hip as well as waist circumference. The more belly fat participants had, the less brain volume they had. This remained true regardless of the person’s BMI, and researchers believe that the amount of belly fat a person has may be a stronger indicator of dementia risk than BMI and hope the results will help improve the medical community’s understanding of obesity’s affect on dementia.

While none of the participants actually had dementia, previous studies have shown that people with smaller brain volume are more likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers speculate that the extra fat may trigger an autoimmune response that causes inflammation. Abdominal fat also produces hormones unlike anywhere else in the body, and doctors still do not know what all of the effects of these hormones might be.

Shadra Bruce is a contributing writer for Mental Health News.