Alzheimer's and Obesity Linked

There's another reason for you to not stay in overweight condition. After proved that obesity may lead to heart disease and diabetes, now researchers at Farber Institute for Neurosciences at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and Edith Cowan University in Joondalup, Western Australia, report that obesity can increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

They found a strong correlation between body mass index and high levels of beta-amyloid, the sticky protein substance that builds up in the Alzheimer's brain and is thought to play a major role in destroying nerve cells and in cognitive and behavioral problems associated with the disease.

"We looked at the levels of beta-amyloid and found a relationship between obesity and circulating amyloid," said Sam E. Gandy, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences. "That's almost certainly why the risk for Alzheimer's is increased."

"Heightened levels of amyloid in the blood vessels and the brain indicate the start of the Alzheimer's process," Gandy said. The scientists reported their findings in this month's Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

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