Obesity in middle age protects from dementia

By NewsGram Staff Writer

According to a research published in the journal, Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, there is a very low risk of developing dementia among the middle aged obese people.

The research based on medical records of nearly two million people contradicts previous researches and states that there is a risk of getting diagnosed with dementia due to increase in obesity.

Professor Stuart Pocock from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said "Our results also open up an intriguing new avenue in the search for protective factors for dementia."

"If we can understand why people with a high BMI (body mass index) have a reduced risk of dementia, it's possible that further down the line, researchers might be able to use these insights to develop new treatments for dementia," Pocock added.

A study found out that around two million people with an average age of 55 years and an average of BMI of 26.2 kg/m2 are classed as overweight. And, during a nine years follow up around fifty thousand people were diagnosed with dementia.

People with BMI greater than 40 kg/m2, 29 percent of people are diagnosed with dementia than people in the normal weight.

Middle aged people who are underweight have a 34% higher risk of being diagnosed with dementia than those of a healthy weight.

"The reasons why a high BMI might be associated with a reduced risk of dementia are not clear, and further work is needed to understand why this might be the case. Many different issues related to diet, exercise, frailty, genetic factors, and weight change could play a part " said, the study's lead author Nawab Qizilbash.