Midlife Obesity Raises Risk of Alzheimer's Disease

Your health and fitness status in middle age could have a great bearing on your senior years. A study by presented by lead author Rachel A. Whitmer, PhD, of the Kaiser Permanente Foundation Research Institute in Oakland, CA. suggests that people who are overweight or obese in their 40s have a much higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in their later years. The extensive study looked at over 9,000 participants over a period of 30 years using measurements of skinfold thickness below the shoulder and at the back of the upper arm to determine overweight and obesity. Participants with higher skinfold measurements were more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. The participants in the group with the highest skinfold measurements were three times as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease as those with the lowest skinfold measurements. Other conditions that can make people more likely to develop dementia such as diabetes did not have an effect on the findings.

This study again points out the negative health effects that the current epidemic of obesity could have on health and future health. The number of cases of Alzheimer’s disease is predicted to grow significantly as the baby boomer generation advances in age. Weight is as a risk factor in the development of Alzheimer’s disease is one that can be reduced by changes in lifestyle in middle age including restricting calorie intake and increasing physical activity. Middle aged adults who are overweight should be encouraged to examine their lifestyle and modify the risk factors that encourage weight gain.

There are many ways people can address this problem on their own. Exercise programs do not need to be difficult or expensive. There are many ways to increase physical activity including:

• Walking
• Swimming
• Bike Riding

All of these activities are fun and generally easy for even beginners. You can start slowly and increase at your own pace. You may be surprised to find that even after just a short period of increased activity that you feel much better.

04/11/2006

SOURCES: Presented by the author at American Academy of Neurology 58th Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif., April 1 – 8, 2006.