More on Weight and The Brain

It never rains but it pours.

Within a week of writing the article on the association between a pot belly and Alzheimers, yet another study was published on a similar topic, this one in the May 2008 issue of Obesity Reviews. And this one confirms the first- weight makes a major difference when it comes to warding off dementia.

In this study, researchers with John Hopkins reviewed and analyzed ten different international studies from countries ranging from the US to Finland to Japan, over the course of 12 years. The studies included people with various types of dementia, and followed the subjects from anywhere from three to 36 years.

Obesity increased the risk of dementia- for both men and women- by an average of 42 percent. It increased the risk of Alzheimers by 80%.

Interestingly being very underweight also increased the risk of cognitive disorders- by 36% in fact. (This kind of inverse relationship happens a lot- as in where when cholesterol gets too low, risk for dying goes up. So "more" is not always better. But I digress.)

So you have a lot of reasons for taking on the challenge of maintaining a "healthy" weight. Less risk of losing your mind, for one. Not to mention less risk for heart disease, diabetes, cancer and depression.