Fat Alert

Posted on March 27, 2008

Bad news if you have a bulging belly: fat that builds up around the waist during middle age may cause dementia later on, say researchers who examined health records of thousands of senior citizens.

Scientists already know that overweight adults risk developing diabetes, heart problems and other medical conditions. But over the last few years researchers have noticed that obesity in middle age is linked with cognitive problems in the aged.

Now it seems that overall body mass is not so important – it’s the fat around the belly that appears to cause the problems.

Researchers looked at the medical records of over 6000 adults and developed the results from the group.

During the 1960s and 1970s, records were taken of the diameters of the adults’ bellies, which gave a rough idea of how much fat they were carrying around the waist.

When the measurements were compared with the subjects’ current medical records, the results were pretty clear. Dementia increased steadily with the amount of belly fat, such that the 20% with the most belly fat were over 250% more likely to develop dementia than those carrying the least.

Oops…I seem to carry excess fat around the belly and I seem to be aging (per the number of calendar pages torn off over the last xx years. Not a good sign, according to these researchers.

I am sane…I know I am.

Disclaimer: Although the information I share is absolutely accurate, you are advised that it may be safer to “pay no attention to the little man behind the curtain” — wizard of oz