Belly fat linked to signs of Alzheimer’s 20 years before symptoms begin, study says
CTV
As the size of a person’s belly grows, the memory centre of their brain shrinks and beta amyloid and tau may appear — all of this occurring as early as a person’s 40s and 50s, well before any cognitive decline is apparent, according to new research.
As the size of a person’s belly grows, the memory centre of their brain shrinks and beta amyloid and tau may appear — all of this occurring as early as a person’s 40s and 50s, well before any cognitive decline is apparent, according to new research.
Both beta amyloid plaques and tau tangles are early signs of the brain’s march toward a possible Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis. Amyloid plaques typically appear first, with tau tangles arriving later as the disease progresses.
“The more amyloid or tau you have in the brain, the sicker the brain becomes,” said senior study author Dr. Cyrus Raji, associate professor of radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
“The way we can track a sicker looking brain is lower blood flow,” Raji said. “We also saw brain atrophy, or a wasting away of gray matter, in a part of the brain’s memory center called the hippocampus.”
Less blood flow in the memory center of the brain may cause shrinkage, another key biomarker for Alzheimer’s, said preventive neurologist Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of research at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Florida. He was not involved in the new research.
“Since the study found these relationships decades before cognitive decline and an expected diagnosis, having laser sharp focus on reducing belly fat can be one of our most powerful tools to fight this terrible disease,” Isaacson said in an email.
Obesity is a worldwide epidemic, according to the World Health Organization, which estimates more than half the world will be overweight or obese within 10 years. In the United States alone, it’s estimated nearly 260 million Americans will be overweight or obese by 2050 unless policymakers take immediate action.
