According to a study by University College London, obese people are more likely to suffer from dementia than others. An even higher association in women.
 
 


Another good reason to take care of your line. According to a new study by University College London, obesity is associated with a higher risk of dementia. A correlation that has existed for almost fifteen years according to the conclusions published in the International Journal of Epidemiology. According to the authors, obese people at the end of adulthood have a 31% more risk of suffering from dementia than those who have a normal body mass index. And the risk is particularly high for women.

“BMI and waist circumference must be monitored to avoid metabolic disturbances. Therefore, it is recommended to reduce the weight to optimal levels by adopting healthy and balanced eating habits, such as the Mediterranean diet, proper physical exercise and reduced alcohol consumption throughout adult life. "Recommends Dr. Dorina Cadar, lead author of this study.

In order to reach these conclusions, the researchers collected data from 6,582 people in a representative sample of the English population. At the time of this study, participants were aged 50 and over. Scientists have found that people with a BMI of 30 or more at the start of the study period had a 31% higher risk of dementia, with an average follow-up of 11 years, than those with a BMI between 18 , 5 and 24.9.

There was also a significant difference between the sexes in the risk of dementia associated with obesity. In fact, women suffering from abdominal obesity had a 39% increased risk of dementia compared to those with a normal level. A correlation confirmed independently of many factors: age, tobacco, level of education, the presence of certain genes, diabetes or hypertension. When BMI and waist circumference were examined in combination, obese study participants of either sex showed a 28% higher risk of dementia than those in the normal range.
A link between obesity and dementia to explain

Why can obesity cause dementia? According to previous studies, obesity could lead to an increased risk of dementia via its direct influence on cytokines (cell signaling proteins) and hormones derived from fat cells, or indirectly by an adverse effect on vascular risk factors. According to some researchers, excess body fat may increase the risk of dementia through metabolic and vascular pathways that contribute to the accumulation of amyloid proteins or brain damage.

“It is possible that the association between obesity and dementia could be potentially explained by other conditions such as hypertension or anticholinergic treatments. The question of the search for the existence of an interactive effect between obesity and other risk factors of quarantine, such as hypertension, diabetes and the carrier status of APOE ε4, in relation with dementia, was not studied in this study. It will be in future work, ”reports Yuxian Ma (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care), the study's first author.

For his part, the co-author, Professor Andrew Steptoe and director of the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, recalls that dementia represents a major health challenge of the current century in view of the aging of the population. "By identifying factors that may increase the risk of dementia that are influenced by lifestyle factors, we hope that a substantial, but certainly not all, of dementia cases can be prevented with interventions public health ”.