Abdominal Fat and Risk of Dementia Boston MA

Senile dementia is the medical term for senility, the gradual loss of mental function that so often occurs with aging. Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of senile dementia, accounts for more than 60 percent of the cognitive function disorders in the aging population. Alzheimer's disease is a progressive condition that results in a slow deterioration of memory, reasoning, and behavior. The loss of intellectual function interferes with daily life, and after a disease course that may last many years, eventually results in death.

Obesity is defined as weight that exceeds 15 percent of normal weight for height and body type. The long-term health implications are well known, in fact, obesity is considered an outright disease. Life expectancy may be decreased in overweight and obese individuals. An obese person is at high risk for a number of serious health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, varicose veins, psychological stress, osteoarthritis, high cholesterol, and diabetes.

The distribution of body weight is a key part of the equation. Excess abdominal fat in particular has been shown to increase the risk of some diseases. The most harmful fat is the deep "visceral" fat that cushions the abdominal organs. Visceral fat is linked to higher levels of LDL cholesterol--the plaque-forming cholesterol--and lower levels of the good HDL cholesterol. Excess fat puts an extra burden on the liver, perhaps making it less able to metabolize cholesterol effectively. Too much visceral fat also favors high blood sugar and increases the risk of diabetes.

A recent study published in the Neurology journal examined 6,583 Kaiser Permanente health-care plan members between the ages of 40 and 45 who had their abdominal fat measured in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1994 and 2006 the researchers followed up with the plan members who were then in their 70s and older. The results revealed that 16 percent of the participants studied had developed dementia. Overweight people with large bellies were 2.3 times more likely to develop dementia and obese people with the most abdominal fat were 3.6 times more likely to develop dementia than those with the least amount of belly fat. Overall, 21 percent of the individuals studied with high levels of abdominal fat developed dementia in comparison to 15 percent of other participants. The effects of belly fat remained even when researchers adjusted their statistics to take into account the effect of conditions such as stroke and diabetes. In conclusion, the researchers suggest that abdominal body fat increases the risk of dementia independently of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.¹

¹ Whitmer RA, Gustafson DR, Barrett-Connor E, et al. Central obesity and increased risk of dementia more than three decades later. Neurology. Mar2008.