People who have big bellies in their 40s are much more likely to get Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia in their 70s, according to new research that links the middle-aged spread to a fading mind for the first time.
The study of over 6,000 people found that the more fat they had in their guts in their early to mid-40s, the greater their chances of becoming forgetful and confused and showing other signs of senility as they aged. Those who had the most expansive midsections faced more than twice the risk of the leanest.
Surprisingly, a sizable stomach seems to increase the risk even among those who are not obese or even overweight, the researchers reported in a paper published online in Neurology.
“A large belly, independent of total weight, is a potent predictor of dementia,” said Rachel A Whitmer, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California, who led the new study.
The findings are alarming in light of the growing girth worldwide, Whitmer and other experts said.
“If these findings are replicated and better understood, it looks like an unhealthy brain could be another consequence of this epidemic of obesity,” said Lenore Launer of the US National Institute on Aging.
The research is the latest evidence that fat in the abdomen is the most dangerous kind.
Previous studies have linked an apple-shaped physique to a greater propensity for diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Researchers suspect that belly fat cells are the worst because of their proximity to major organs. They ooze noxious chemicals, stoking inflammation, constricting blood vessels and triggering other processes that may also damage brain cells.
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