Putting on weight after 40 years of age may lead to dementia. According to US researchers midlife obesity increases the individual’s risk for
Putting on weight after 40 years of age may lead to dementia. According to US researchers midlife obesity increases the individual’s risk for dementia by 60% to 70%, when compared to the chances of people with normal body weight.
Dementia is a condition where the person is affected by impaired intellectual capability. Some signs of dementia are short-term memory loss, inability to do concrete or abstract reasoning, difficulty in concentration, inappropriate behavior in social situations etc. this is not a normal degeneration of cells due to age but an acquired condition.The new study had found out that obese people, i.e. people with a BMI of more than 30, have 74% more risk of dementia than people with normal body mass index (BMI). For people who are overweight with BMI being between 25 to 29, the chances of having dementia is about 35% more than those within the normal BMI range. The results were taken after catering for adjustment due to age, sex, race, education, smoking, alcohol use, marital status, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, stroke, and ischemic heart disease.
The study will be published in the recent issue of the British Medical Journal.
