Warning as obesity could cause your brain cells to die off, scientists find
BEING overweight could kill of brain cells, according to a new study.
Researchers have found obesity and Alzheimer's disease both destroy the outer layer of the brain in the same way.
Canadian scientists now claim losing weight could slow cognitive decline and lower the risk of the brain eating disease.
Obesity has been previously linked with Alzheimer's disease, but this is the first time a direct comparison has been made between brain breakdown patterns in Alzheimer's and obesity.
Brain scans of over 1,300 people with both diseases revealed similar brain thinning in regions responsible for learning, memory and judgment.
Like Alzheimer's, obesity has already been associated with damage to the blood vessels in the brain, and accumulation of proteins, which leads to the breakdown of the brain.
Read more on obesity
But this new research takes it one step further.
The researchers from Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital, McGill University, suspect people who shed the pounds "decrease the subsequent risk of neurodegeneration and dementia".
The main signs of Alzheimer's you need to know
The rate at which symptoms progress is different for each person. These conditions include:
- Memory: Regularly forgetting recent events, names and faces.
- Repetition: Becoming increasingly repetitive.
- Misplacing things: Regularly misplacing items or putting them in odd places.
- Confusion: Not sure of the date or time of day.
- Disorientation: People might be unsure of their whereabouts or get lost, particularly in unfamiliar places.
- Language: Problems finding the right words.
- Mood and behaviour: Some people become low in mood, anxious or irritable
Source:
Obesity - which affects one in four Brits - is already considered by health experts to be multisystem disease.
Being overweight increases your risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, asthma, high cholesterol and several cancers.
Most read in Health
This new study, published confirms it's potentially deadly impact on the brain.