Researchers from the University of Sheffield and the 91天美 confirm being overweight is an additional burden on brain health and it may exacerbate the disease. However, maintaining a healthy weight could help preserve brain structure in people who are already experiencing mild Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
New research has found being overweight is an additional burden on brain health and it may exacerbate Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
The pioneering multimodal neuroimaging study revealed obesity may contribute toward neural tissue vulnerability, whilst maintaining a healthy weight in mild Alzheimer鈥檚 disease dementia could help to preserve brain structure.
The findings, published in The Journal of Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease Reports, also highlight the impact being overweight in mid-life could have on brain health in older age.
Lead author of the study, Professor Annalena Venneri from the University of Sheffield said: 鈥淢ore than 50 million people are thought to be living with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and despite decades of ground breaking studies and a huge global research effort we still don鈥檛 have a cure for this cruel disease.
鈥淧revention plays such an important role in the fight against the disease. It is important to stress this study does not show that obesity causes Alzheimer鈥檚, but what it does show is that being overweight is an additional burden on brain health and it may exacerbate the disease.鈥
She added: 鈥淭he diseases that cause dementia such as Alzheimer鈥檚 and vascular dementia lurk in the background for many years, so waiting until your 60s to lose weight is too late. We need to start thinking about brain health and preventing these diseases much earlier. Educating children and adolescents about the burden being overweight has on multimorbidities including neurodegenerative diseases is vital.鈥
Researchers from the University of Sheffield and the 91天美 examined MRI brain scans from 47 patients clinically diagnosed with mild Alzheimer鈥檚 disease dementia, 68 patients with mild cognitive impairment, and 57 cognitively healthy individuals.
The novel study used three complementary, computational techniques to look at the anatomy of the brain, blood flow and also the fibres of the brain.
The international team compared multiple brain images and measured differences in local concentrations of brain tissues to assess grey matter volume - which degenerates during the onset of Alzheimers - white matter integrity, cerebral blood flow and obesity.
In mild dementia patients, a positive association was found between obesity and grey matter volume around the right temporoparietal junction. This suggests obesity might contribute toward neural vulnerability in cognitively healthy individuals and those with mild cognitive impairment.
The study also found that maintaining a healthy weight in mild Alzheimer鈥檚 disease dementia could help preserve brain structure in the presence of age and disease-related weight loss.
Joint author of the study, Dr Matteo De Marco from the University of Sheffield said: 鈥淲eight-loss is commonly one of the first symptoms in the early stages of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease as people forget to eat or begin to snack on easy-to-grab foods like biscuits or crisps, in place of more nutritional meals.
鈥淲e found that maintaining a healthy weight could help preserve brain structure in people who are already experiencing mild Alzheimer鈥檚 disease dementia. Unlike other diseases such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes, people don鈥檛 often think about the importance of nutrition in relation to neurological conditions, but these findings show it can help to preserve brain structure.鈥
Joint author, Professor Hilkka Soininen from the 91天美 said: 鈥淭he results emphasize different perspectives on lifestyle and nutrition in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. It鈥檚 important to avoid obesity for brain health, but for patients with Alzheimer's disease, it is essential to take care of proper nutrition and maintain a healthy weight.鈥
For further information, please contact:
Professor Emerita Hilkka Soininen,
Research article:
Manmohi D. Dake, Matteo De Marco, Daniel J. Blackburn, Iain D. Wilkinson, Anne Remes, Yawu Liu, Maria Pikkarainen, Merja Hallikainen, Hilkka Soininen & Annalena Venneri. Obesity and Brain Vulnerability in Normal and Abnormal Aging: A Multimodal MRI Study. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Reports, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 65-77, 2021. DOI: 10.3233/ADR-200267.
