Obese People Who Reached 50 Years of Age Might Suffer from Alzheimer’s When They’re Older

A new study revealed that obese people who reached 50 years of age might suffer from Alzheimer’s when they’re older. The study was published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

The research paper wrote that a healthy body mass index (BMI) would delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

1,300 adult Americans were monitored over a time frame of 14 years, as their body mass index was observed by researchers. Moreover, initially, the study participants were white and healthy individuals.

It seems that 142 started suffering from Alzheimer’s at approximately 83 years of age. So, suffering from obesity at middle age would increase the risk of people developing Alzheimer’s at an older age.

Alzheimer’s, which is a form of dementia, affects approximately 50 million patients globally, with increasing numbers each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Their statistics also showed that 1.9 billion adults worldwide were overweight in 2014, whereas 13 percent suffered from obesity. In America, the number of Alzheimer’s sufferers has reached 5 million.

The scientific team asked participants to undergo brain scans, and researchers also performed autopsies when some died. Therefore, Madhav Thambisetty of the National Institute on Aging of the US health department’s National Institutes of Health, lead author of the study, explained

“that every unit of increase in body mass index was associated with more neurofibrillary tangles in the brain”,

which is a particular characteristic of Alzheimer’s.

According to a specific pattern, those who display a BMI of 25 and higher can be classified as overweight, whereas the average body mass index of individuals involved in the study at their midlife was 25.8.

The primary feature of the study pointed out that those who maintained a healthy BMI when they had reached 50 years of age could protect themselves from Alzheimer’s in, let’s say, 30 years.

A representative of the Alzheimer’s Association who wasn’t involved in the study, Heather Snyder, said that the study was of high importance as it was the first to find a clue to brain changes in people inclined to develop Alzheimer’s.

The study also suggested that chronic inflammation would be another consequence of obesity, whereas researchers involved in the study said that appropriate lifestyle changes would be crucial, and maintaining a healthy weight brought upon multiple benefits.

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