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WASHINGTON - PEOPLE who have big bellies in their 40s are much more likely to get Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia in their 70s, according to new research that links the middle-age spread to fading minds for the first time.
The study of more than 6,000 people found that the more fat they had in their guts in their early to mid-40s, the greater their chances of becoming forgetful or confused or showing other signs of senility as they aged.
Those who had the most impressive midsections faced more than twice the risk of the leanest.
Surprisingly, a sizeable stomach seems to increase the risk even among those who are not obese, or even overweight, the researchers reported in a paper published online on Wednesday by the journal Neurology.
'A large belly independent of total weight is a potent predictor of dementia,' said Dr Rachel Whitmer, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California, who led the new study.
The research is the latest evidence that fat in the abdomen is the most dangerous kind. Previous studies have linked the apple-shaped physique to a greater risk of diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.
Researchers suspect that abdominal fat cells are the worst because of their proximity to major organs. They ooze noxious chemicals, stoking inflammation, constricting blood vessels and triggering other processes that might also damage brain cells.
Dr Whitmer and her colleagues measured belly fat by placing one end of a tong-like instrument on the back of each subject and the other end of the tong on the subject's abdomen. A person had high belly fat if the distance between the two ends - the subject's diameter - was more than 25cm.
An average of 36 years later, 16 per cent of all subjects had been diagnosed with dementia.
Those who were overweight and had a large belly when measurements were taken were 2.3 times more likely to develop dementia in old age than those who had a healthy weight and belly size when they were younger.
The researchers categorised subjects as overweight if they had a body mass index of 25 to 29.9. The index, also known as BMI, is a ratio of height and weight.
People who were obese - with a BMI of greater than 30 - and had a large belly in middle age were 3.6 times more likely to develop dementia later in life than those whose weight and belly size had been in the healthy range.
Increases in thigh fat did not add to the risk of dementia, according to the researchers.
WASHINGTON POST, LOS ANGELES TIMES
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