Summary: Changes in body weight over a person’s lifetime can predict dementia later in life, a new study reveals.
Source: Boston University School of Medicine
Dementia is a growing global public health problem that currently affects 50 million people and is expected to rise dramatically to over 150 million cases worldwide by 2050.
Obesity, commonly measured by body mass index (BMI), continues to be a global epidemic, and previous studies have suggested that obesity in midlife may lead to an increased risk of dementia. But the association between BMI and dementia risk remains unclear.
Now, researchers from Boston University’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College have found that different patterns of BMI change over the lifespan can be an indicator of a person’s risk of dementia.
“These findings are important because previous studies that examined weight trajectories did not consider how patterns of weight gain/stability/loss might help signal that dementia is potentially imminent,” the author explained. correspondent Rhoda Au, Ph.D., professor of anatomy. .and neurobiology.
Through the Framingham Heart Study, a group of participants was followed for 39 years and their weight was measured approximately every 2 to 4 years. The researchers compared different weight patterns (stable, gain, loss) among those who became demented and those who did not.
They found that the general downward trend in BMI was associated with a higher risk of developing dementia. However, upon further exploration, they found a subgroup with a pattern of an initial increase in BMI followed by a decline in BMI, both occurring during midlife, which appeared to be central decreasing BMI-dementia association.
Au points out that for individuals, family members and primary care physicians, it is relatively easy to monitor weight.
“If, after the steady increase in weight that is common as one ages, there is an unexpected shift toward weight loss after midlife, it may be a good idea to see your health care provider and determine for what. There are emerging potential treatments where early detection could be critical to the effectiveness of any of these treatments as they are approved and become available,” she adds.
The researchers hope that this study will illustrate that the seeds of dementia are likely to be sown over many years, possibly even a lifetime.
“Dementia is not necessarily inevitable and monitoring risk indicators such as something as easily noticed as weight patterns, could provide opportunities for early intervention that can change the trajectory of onset and of disease progression.
About this dementia research news
Author: Press office
Source: Boston University School of Medicine
Contact: Press Office – Boston University School of Medicine
Image: Image is in public domain
Original research: free access.
“Patterns of BMI decline and relationship to dementia risk over four decades of follow-up in the Framingham Studyby Jinlei Li et al. Alzheimer’s and dementia
See also
Summary
Patterns of BMI decline and relationship to dementia risk over four decades of follow-up in the Framingham Study
Background
Obesity has been associated with an increased risk of dementia with several studies reporting reverse causation, with weight loss preceding the onset of dementia.
Methods
Two thousand forty-five non-demented Framingham Offspring participants, aged 30 to 50, were included to determine the effect of patterns of decline in body mass index (BMI) in mid to late life on a followed by 39 years. Group-based trajectory models were used to create BMI trajectories.
Results
Decreasing trends in BMI were associated with a higher risk of developing dementia later in life. Declining people whose BMI first increased in their early 40s and then decreased later in midlife had an increased risk of dementia compared to non-declining people (relative risk 3.84, 95% confidence 1.39-10.60).
Conclusion
While patterns of declining BMI were associated with dementia, a subgroup showing a pattern of initial increase in BMI followed by decline in BMI, both occurring during midlife, seemed to be central to the declining association between BMI and dementia. Further validations are needed to provide strong conclusions.
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