Excess fat is linked to many health conditions, some of which affect the brain.
The latest Alzheimer’s disease research shows that hidden fat in certain parts of the body is the most common early warning sign of dementia. 20 years before symptoms appear.
The findings were presented this week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago.
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“Among different body compartments, higher visceral or hidden abdominal fat is the most important predictor of brain-wide amyloid and early tau protein accumulation,” said study lead author and director of the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR said Martha Drashahi, MD, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at ). told Fox News Digital at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Researchers studied different types of body tissue, including subcutaneous fat, liver fat, and thigh fat, but found that visceral fat was “the strongest predictor of obesity-related Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology.” Drashahi pointed out that there is.
The latest Alzheimer’s disease research has shown that hidden fat in different parts of the body is the most common early warning sign of dementia, even before symptoms appear. (St. Petersburg)
“Other types of fat showed no association with Alzheimer’s disease pathology.”
In the study, researchers evaluated 80 middle-aged adults (average age 49) without cognitive impairment, according to a press release.
“Visceral fat was the strongest predictor of obesity-related Alzheimer’s disease.”
Just over half of the people were classified as obese.
The average body mass index (BMI) is 32.31, and anything over 30 falls into the obese category.
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Researchers evaluated potential links between Alzheimer’s disease symptoms and controllable lifestyle factors such as obesity, metabolic health, and BMI.
Tests include a brain scan, body MRI, cholesterol panel, and blood sugar and insulin level measurements.
Insulin resistance and low HDL cholesterol were associated with high amyloid in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. (St. Petersburg)
In addition to measuring body mass index, the study used MRI technology to take a closer look at body fat to better determine its relationship to Alzheimer’s disease, the release states.
“We investigated the association between BMI, visceral fat, subcutaneous fat, liver fat fraction, thigh fat, muscle, as well as insulin resistance and HDL (good cholesterol), and amyloid and tau deposition in Alzheimer’s disease. ” said Drashahi.
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A further finding was that high insulin resistance and low HDL are associated with high amyloid in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
“An important implication of our study is that to manage Alzheimer’s disease risk in obesity, we need to target the associated metabolic and lipid problems that often occur when body fat increases.” said Cyrus A. Raji, MD, senior author of the study. Associate Professor of Radiology at MIR said in a release.
In addition to measuring BMI, the study used MRI technology to take a closer look at body fat to more accurately determine its relationship to Alzheimer’s disease. (St. Petersburg)
In another study, also published this week, the same research team investigated how obesity and abdominal fat impede blood flow to the brain.
Researchers noted that three out of four Americans are overweight or obese.
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Meanwhile, approximately 6.9 million Americans over the age of 65 have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and that number is projected to reach 13 million by 2050.
“The good news is that you can lower these risk factors with a healthy lifestyle and regular exercise.”
Dr. Ernest Lee Murray, a board-certified neurologist at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, Tennessee, was not involved in the study but commented on the results.
“We’ve known for some time that the dangers that visceral fat poses to various organs in the body are likely due to promoting inflammatory changes, and this is true in the brain as well,” he told FOX News Digital. Ta.
What struck Murray most was that changes can be seen in the brain early in life.
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“The good news is that these risk factors can be lowered through a healthy lifestyle and regular exercise,” he said.
The popularity of GLP-1 treatments for diabetes and obesity “will definitely be studied” in this context, Murray added.
Healthy lifestyle changes may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life, experts say. (St. Petersburg)
“This study also shows the importance of doctors and insurance companies focusing on prevention and the long-term benefits of correcting risk factors early, rather than waiting for patients to develop symptoms. ”
The researchers acknowledged that the study had some limitations.
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“For one, the cross-sectional design of the study does not allow us to understand whether individuals with excess visceral fat, amyloid and tau pathology develop cognitive impairment or symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease,” Drashahi said on FOX He told News Digital.
“Also, the sample size of this study was limited to 80 people, and further research using PET scans is needed to understand the role of different types of body fat in Alzheimer’s disease.”
