Title: Study Links Belly Fat to Increased Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease
By Melissa Rudy, Fox News
Published Nov. 21, 2023, 7:06 p.m. ET
New research from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) has uncovered a concerning link between visceral fat and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The study, soon to be presented at the RSNA’s annual meeting, suggests that even in cognitively healthy individuals as young as 50, the presence of deep belly fat could point to future dementia up to 15 years before symptoms appear.
The study, conducted on 54 middle-aged participants, focused on MRI and PET scans of the brain in conjunction with assessing body mass index (BMI), obesity levels, blood glucose, and abdominal fatty tissue. According to study author Mahsa Dolatshahi, M.D., the research is the first of its kind to link a specific type of fat to the Alzheimer’s disease protein in cognitively normal people.
The findings revealed that individuals with higher levels of visceral fat also exhibited greater inflammation in the brain and higher levels of amyloid in the precuneus cortex – the region of the brain that typically shows early signs of Alzheimer’s. The study also found that men were more likely to demonstrate this correlation than women.
Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News medical contributor, expressed that the findings align with expectations, given that belly fat is known to be filled with inflammation, which can lead to neurodegenerative disease and accelerate Alzheimer’s.
While the research is limited by its small sample size and cross-sectional design, the hope is that the findings will bring greater awareness to the connection between body and brain health. The ultimate goal is for the research to be a springboard to new targeted treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, a condition that currently affects over six million Americans and is expected to approach 13 million by 2050.
As the study progresses, the researchers plan to recruit more participants and pursue a longitudinal version of the work in the future. These efforts could potentially help doctors identify Alzheimer’s disease earlier, providing a valuable opportunity for intervention and treatment.