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'Bulging waistlines increase dementia risk'
27 March 2008 17:25:06
A study of 6,583 people aged between 40 and 45 in northern California, which measured the abdominal fat of participants, found that those with the largest waistlines were nearly three times more likely to suffer from dementia than those with the lowest amounts of fat - a finding which may affect life insurance policies.
"Considering that 50 percent of adults in this country have an unhealthy amount of abdominal fat, this is a disturbing finding," said the study's author Dr Rachel Whitmer.
"Research needs to be done to determine what the mechanisms are that link abdominal obesity and dementia," she added.
Having a large abdomen increased the risk of dementia regardless of whether the participants were of normal weight overall, overweight, or obese, and in spite of existing health conditions, the research found.
Those who were overweight and had a large waistline were 2.3 times more likely to develop dementia than people with a normal weight and abdominal size while people who were both obese and had a large belly were 3.6 times more likely to develop illness.
According to the Alzheimer's Society, 700,000 people in the UK live with dementia.
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