Stay a Healthy Weight to Slash Alzheimer's Risk
The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, examined 2,322 people who were participating in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. 187 of these participants were diagnosed with Alzheimer's during the study's 23 year follow-up phase. The research was led by Dr. May A. Beydoun of the National Institutes of Health in Baltimore, and the researchers found that:
- Men who are underweight (BMI under 18.5) during middle age (30-45) are five times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those who are at a steady, healthy weight.
- Women who are overweight (BMI over 30) during middle age are six times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those who are at a steady, healthy weight.
Having a large waist was also a risk factor amongst women.
However, they also found that men who gained a significant amount of weight during middle age were 3.7 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's than those who didn't, and women who lost weight during middle age were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's as those who didn't. (These groups of people may not have been the individuals who needed to gain or lose weight, however.) Reuters reported:
Weight loss could signal underlying disease processes related to the development of Alzheimer's disease, Beydoun and her team suggest, noting that other researchers have found that people with mild cognitive impairment who lose weight or are underweight are more likely to develop Alzheimer's.
If you want to reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease:
- Stay at a healthy weight (between a BMI of 20-25), especially during middle age.
- Avoid crash-dieting or gaining weight rapidly.
- See your doctor if you put on or lose weight unexpectedly.
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Sure sounds like a confusing bit of research to me. I remember their being quite a hoo ha about obesity and alzheimers a while back, and I wrote about it on my blog - but even with the research they were referring to then, thought the evidence really seemed a bit 'thin.'
ReplyYeah, my elbow hurts, no doubt it is because I used to be overweight and not because I bumped it. I'm getting sick of the entire blame everything possible on being fat. The insurance companies love that and so does the government, that way anything you "get" is because you failed you personal responsiblity test.
ReplyThere are so many other variables that need to be factored in as well as weight.
It is certainly better not to be overweight for all sorts of health reasons.
ReplyMy grandpa had Alzheimer's disease and he was a very thin man most of his life. Of course, he was also an alcoholic and he drank most of his meals. I would guess that heavy drinking might have had something to do with his Alzheimer's, but I'm not really sure on that.
ReplyMy mother was diagnoised with being in the early stages of Alzheimer's. I remember growing up and watching as she put herself, as well as me, on a diet. Even though half the times she was at a slim weight (but in her mind she was always fat) and she was an alcoholic. BUT, growing up, we always cooked out of Aluminum pots and pans, making sure we scraped the bottom to get every last drop. Hmmmmm, I truely believe it was the aluminum pans, not the weight. I await the day I get Alzheimers. But keeping the mind active is best to ward off Alzheimers.
ReplyI read the study and even they admit that it's incomplete ,but the way I look at the information weight was actually a sign that something else was happening not actually causing or preventing Alzheimer's. In other words if your healthy than your weight maintains at a pretty tight margin ,but if you start gaining or losing weight for seemingly no reason it could be a predictive sign of Alzheimer's.
ReplyI always enjoy your blog.
ReplyI always enjoy your blog.
ReplyWeight? There are alot more factors than weight---
Replyhereditary plays a factor (on how your brain ages)--plus if you smoke or drink...plus stress on the brain
My grandfather came down with dementia in his fourties--and it looks I am headed that way-my MRI is very abnormal -female(I was normal weight--now soundly I am frail)