Obesity and loss of brain tissue

Women who are overweight or obese adults may be at an increased risk for decrease in the volume of certain areas of their brain. Obesity is related to poor blood flow, high blood pressure and cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases. These conditions contribute to an unhealthy vascular system, and therefore, to a higher dementia risk.Researchers from the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Goteborg, Sweden, studied 290 women who were born in the early 1900s and followed them throughout adulthood. About every 5 years, health, lifestyle and body composition were evaluated along with clinical and neuro-psychiatric assessments. In 1992, when the subjects were between 70 and 84 years of age, head CT was performed to assess any shrinkage in brain volume. The researchers found that women with losses in their temporal lobes, the areas of the brain associated with hearing as well other functions, had body mass index (BMI) measurements throughout adulthood that were 1 to 1.5 points higher than women without any loss in brain volume. The researchers calculated that for every 1-point increase in BMI, the risk of losses in the temporal lobes rose by 13 to 15 percent.
The results suggest that obesity is yet another factor that should be addressed to protect against diseases of advanced ageing, such as dementia and brain atrophy. This study provides another reason for obese people to reduce their body weight.