Now there is new research divulging another difficulty inherent, it seems, with being overweight or obese.  Previous studies had been done on smaller “samples”; however, for this study, 730 people (70% female), having an average age of 60, were used.  What they looked for in the study was the association between the subjects’ body mass index (BMI), their waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and the CT measure of their abdominal fat and their overall brain volume.

The study was led by scientist, Sudha Seshadri, an associate professor of neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine.   What was found  was that:

Brain regions key to cognition are smaller in older people who are obese compared with their leaner peers, making their brains look up to 16 years older than their true age. As brain shrinkage is linked to
dementia, this adds weight to the suspicion that piling on the pounds may up a person’s risk of the brain condition.

Other information from the research, which should be a wake-up call to those under the age of 50, is that for those in their 30s who have larger stomachs with a lot of visceral fat, it is highly likely their brains will be smaller as they get into their second half of life (50s and above).  The shrinking of the brain is linked to the fact that added weight reduces not only blood flow to the brain, but also nutrients and oxygen.

These studies are also showing a link between obesity and Alzheimer’s, because the blood of those who are obese generally has too much insulin.  Insulin does not get rid of amyloid plaque as well as blood that is healthy does; this amyloid plaque can then lead to brain damage in the Alzheimer patient.

Another scary fact that a recent imaging study has found is that (on average) the obese participants’ brain volume was 8% lower than those of a normal weight.  Their brains also

…looked 16 years older than the brains of those who were lean; and in overweight people, they looked 8 years older.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are both conditions that all of us over 50 think about, especially as we care for parents who are suffering right now from one or both.  It would seem to me that this should be a good incentive to want to take off some weight…added, of course, to all the other health problems I mentioned above.

I don’t know about you, but “thriving” as I get older does not include dementia or Alzheimer’s (even though there is a history of it in my father’s family).  If you do struggle with weight issues, I hope that this information may be something that will motivate you to think about how you can make changes that will positively affect your future overall health and well-being.

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