Belly Fat & Dementia

The links between abdominal fat, or belly fat, and certain afflictions such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke are well known. A growing body of research now seems to link belly fat with dementia and reductions in brain size. In a 2005 study published in the "British Medical Journal", a 74 percent increase in the incidence of dementia was noted in adults who had been overweight in middle age. A more recent study, published in "The Annals of Neurology" in 2010, showed a link between abdominal fat and Alzheimer's disease, a major cause of dementia.

Abdominal Fat

Fat is a normal and necessary component of the human body, comprising approximately 22 percent of the average adult female and 16 percent of the average adult male. Body fat is stored in a thin layer under your skin where it is called subcutaneous fat and within your body cavity where it surrounds certain internal organs and is knows as visceral fat. When excess amounts of fat are present, the layer of subcutaneous fat thickens and the pockets of visceral abdominal fat grow and merge into a large, solid mass. This accumulation of abdominal fat is measured by the waist to hip ratio or the sagittal abdominal diameter.

Dementia

Dementia, the loss of characteristic brain functions including memory, cognition and reasoning, is one of the many complications associated with aging and can result from a number of conditions including vascular disease, brain tumors, Huntington's disease and Alzheimer's disease. The World Health Organization estimates that over 29 million people suffer from some form of dementia with over 4 million new cases being added each year. According to the Merck Manual, up to 50 percent of all people will experience some form of dementia by the age of 85.

Early Symptoms of Dementia

Almost everyone suffers from mild memory loss, either temporary or long term, as they age, and this is not to be confused with clinical dementia. Unlike age-related memory loss, which is often mild and reaches a plateau, dementia is a progressive disease which continually worsens and results in loss of ability to function independently. The cognitive and memory loss in dementia is compounded by disorientation and personality changes. The ultimate diagnosis is usually made based upon a patient's responses to the Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination.

Abdominal Fat and Dementia

The contributing factors for dementia that are most frequently associated with belly fat include damage to and occlusion of arteries supplying the brain with blood, the production of toxic metabolic byproducts from fat metabolism, the compression of internal organs and its effect on blood pressure, or the influence that excess belly fat may have on hormone secretion.

How to Reduce Your Risk

Reducing your risk of developing dementia can be accomplished by avoiding or eliminating excess belly fat and, in particular, the internal or visceral belly fat accumulation. There is no way to specifically target belly fat, and the only remedy is a program of diet and exercise that will reduce your overall body fat level. Not only will reducing belly fat help reduce your risk of developing dementia, it is certain to pay benefits in reducing the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease as well.