Obesity Causes Dementia

nordicblue

It causes dementia. Being obese in your middle age means you could be four times as likely to develop dementia when you’re older, according to a 2011 study in the journal Neurology. Researchers tracked the weight of 6,500 people over the age of 65 and found a link between those who were obese and those who had dementia. It’s believed that obesity-induced inflammation could actually kill part of your brain’s circuitry that's needed for memory.

MrMazda

While this is plausible, I do not understand how a co-relation somehow proves a causal link. Do you by chance have a reference to the original source for further reading?

nordicblue

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422%2814%2970085-7/abstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23401370
Full text article here http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.20037/pdf

https://fightdementia.org.au/sites/default/files/20081100_Nat_SUB_NatPrevHlthTaskforce.pdf

http://www.chron.com/news/health/article/New-study-links-middle-age-obesity-and-dementia-5706580.php

http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/announcements/2009/10/more-findings-link-obesity-and-dementia

MrMazda

Well…. It does indeed seem to reasonably prove that there is an elevated risk of dementia with obeasity, but I still don't know that one can reasonably say that obeasity inexorably causes dementia. It's at least reasonable to say that it could be considered a contributing factor, or that at the very least, it's an accelerant or catalyst for developping dementia. I'm still not convinced that there's a causal link between the two.

nordicblue

I suppose the point is moot. Either you are obese and you will choose to stay that way or you are not overweight and there is no cause for alarm. Being overweight causes more harm than we currently know, these articles serve as a precaution to fast food bingers.