Middle-Aged and Overweight? You Are Probably Safe from Dementia
A new study that claims obesity could protect middle-aged against dementia has the scientific and healthy community flummoxed.
According to BBC News, the study involving nearly two million British people found that people with above-healthy body mass index (BMI) were 30 percent less likely to develop dementia, compared to people with a healthy BMI of 25 kg/m2. The study's findings fly in the face of previous studies but cannot be dismissed given its statistical significance.
The study also found that underweight people had a 34 percent higher risk of dementia and the risk persisted for 15 years. The average age of participants in the study was 55 years.
Surprised researchers believe the study could be used to develop new insights into diagnosing and treating dementia.
"Our results suggest that doctors, public health scientists, and policy makers need to re-think how to best identify who is at high risk of dementia," said study's author Stuart Pocock, Professor of Medical Statistics from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
The study has not explained its findings but given that deficiency of vitamin D and E increases risk, it is being speculated that overweight people may not have such deficiencies, thereby cutting risk.
"The reasons why a high BMI might be associated with a reduced risk of dementia aren't clear, and further work is needed to understand why this might be the case. If increased weight in mid-life is protective against dementia, the reasons for this inverse association are unclear at present. Many different issues related to diet, exercise, frailty, genetic factors, and weight change could play a part," said lead author Dr. Nawab Qizilbash.
Dementia, caused by Alzheimer's disease, aging and other conditions, affect nearly 50 million people worldwide and the number is set to increase in coming years, mainly due to longer lifespan.
