foodconsumer.org: Rapid weight loss may be predictor of dementia

Rapid weight loss may be predictor of dementia
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admin on 05/21/2009 12:03:00
 
Thursday May 21, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- Neurology, the medical journal of
the American Academy of Neurology, is currently reporting that older people who
are thinner or who lose weight rapidly have a significantly higher risk of
developing dementia than their heavier counterparts, especially if they were
obese or overweight at one time.
Tiffany Hughes, PhD, MPH, who led the study while working on her doctorate at
the University of South Florida, tracked 1,836 Japanese-Americans in Washington,
with an average age of 72. Over the eight year study span, 129 of the
participants developed dementia; those with lower BMIs at the beginning of the
study were 79% more likely to become ill.
Through the years, conflicting results from various studies have muddied the
waters when it comes to BMI and its association with becoming demented with age.
For example, some research has shown a correlation between significant belly fat
in middle age and subsequent dementia.
However, a study published by the same medical journal in 2007 seems to verify
the current research, with one caveat: the earlier study showed that females who
had dementia were more likely to lose weight, while their male counterparts
generally maintained their BMIs. The results of Hughes’ study were not gender
specific.
In the prior study, Dr. David Knopman of the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine
studied 481 patients with dementia, comparing them with a healthy control group.
Women who eventually developed dementia began to lose weight 11-20 years prior
to the onset of dementia, while men showed no such variation.
The gender difference between the two studies may be nothing more than a
cultural phenomenon, according to Dr. Knopman. Women, he asserts, are more
likely to neglect cooking for themselves in the early stages of dementia, while
men typically have someone to do the cooking for them.
(By Rachel Stockton, and edited by Heather Kelley)