Not Too Thin, Not Too Fat…

Being the right size can be good for your mind.

 

Research suggests that being underweight makes you 36% more likely to develop dementia in old age.

 

On the other end of the spectrum, obesity has been shown to give people an 80% increase in risk for cognitive disorders.

 

These results are based on an analysis of ten international studies, done by Youfa Wang, associate professor at John Hopkins University.

 

It found that vascular dementia is associated with central obesity – the type where the fat hangs around the person’s middle. So it’s no surprise that vascular dementia was the more common risk among obese men. Overweight women had more of a risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Moral of the story – keep a good weight.

 

Contributed by L. Gordon

08. May 2008 by Ruth Folger Weiss
Categories: Aging, Alzheimers/Dementia | Leave a comment