Have you noticed that fat people come in different shapes? Some fat people are fat all over, while others, often guys, have very fat bellies only.
Is a fat belly phat?
Apparently not, according to the research of Dr. Rachel Whitmer, of Kaiser Permanente, Division of Research, Etiology and Prevention, Oakland, California.
She recently carried out a study of over 6,500 overweight people to figure out the long-term effects of excess belly fat on dementia. (The epidemiology of adiposity and dementia. Current Alzheimer Research, 2007 April;4(2):117-22).
Her long-term prospective study indicates that excess belly fat, to the point of being overweight or obese, as measured by body mass index and skinfold thickness, substantially increases the likelihood of dementia later in life.
On the other hand, she reports : “Weight loss in late life however is associated with dementia, and those categorized as underweight are also at a greater risk of dementia.”
The moral seems to be: if you want to reduce your chances of dementia in later life – and who wouldn’t ? – reduce that belly fat, and don’t become excessively thin.
Strive for a balance, get some exercise and, as always, eat responsibly.
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Published online before print March 26, 2008
Received August 15, 2007
Accepted December 14, 2007
Central obesity and increased risk of dementia more than three decades later
R. A. Whitmer PhD*, D. R. Gustafson PhD, E. Barrett-Connor MD, M. N. Haan DrPH, E. P. Gunderson PhD, and K. Yaffe MD
From Kaiser Permanente Division of Research (R.A.W., E.P.G.), Oakland, CA; Goteberg University (D.R.G.), Goteberg, Sweden; the Department of Family Medicine (E.B.-C.), University of California, La Jolla; the Department of Epidemiology (M.N.H.), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and the Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology and Epidemiology (K.Y.), University of California, San Francisco.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rachel.whitmer@kp.org.
Background: Numerous reports show that a centralized distribution of adiposity is a more dangerous risk factor for cardiovascular disease and diabetes than total body obesity. No studies have evaluated whether the same pattern exists with dementia. The objective was to evaluate the association between midlife central obesity and risk of dementia three decades later.
Methods: A longitudinal analysis was conducted of 6,583 members of Kaiser Permanente of Northern California who had their sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) measured in 1964 to 1973. Diagnoses of dementia were from medical records an average of 36 years later, January 1, 1994, to June 16, 2006. Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for age, sex, race, education, marital status, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, stroke, heart disease, and medical utilization were conducted.
Results: A total of 1,049 participants (15.9%) were diagnosed with dementia. Compared with those in the lowest quintile of SAD, those in the highest had nearly a threefold increased risk of dementia (hazard ratio, 2.72; 95% CI, 2.33–3.33), and this was only mildly attenuated after adding body mass index (BMI) to the model (hazard ratio, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.58–2.35). Those with high SAD (>25 cm) and normal BMI had an increased risk (hazard ratio, 1.89; 95% CI, 0.98–3.81) vs those with low SAD (<25 cm) and normal BMI (18.5–24.9 kg/m2), whereas those both obese (BMI >30 kg/m2) and with high SAD had the highest risk of dementia (HR, 3.60; 95% CI, 2.85–4.55).
Conclusions: Central obesity in midlife increases risk of dementia independent of diabetes and cardiovascular comorbidities. Fifty percent of adults have central obesity; therefore, mechanisms linking central obesity to dementia need to be unveiled.
Phatstuff 