A new study finds obese people have 8 percent less brain tissue than normal-weight individuals. Their brains look 16 years older than the brains of lean individuals, researchers said today.
Those classified as overweight have 4 percent less brain tissue and their brains appear to have aged prematurely by 8 years.
The results, based on brain scans of 94 people in their 70s, represent “severe brain degeneration,” said Paul Thompson, senior author of the study and a UCLA professor of neurology.
“That’s a big loss of tissue and it depletes your cognitive reserves, putting you at much greater risk of Alzheimer’s and other diseases that attack the brain,” said Thompson. “But you can greatly reduce your risk for Alzheimer’s, if you can eat healthily and keep your weight under control.”
The findings are detailed in the online edition of the journal Human Brain Mapping.
Obesity packs many negative health effects, including increased risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and some cancers. It’s also been shown to reduce sexual activity.
More than 300 million worldwide are now classified as obese, according to the World Health Organization. Another billion are overweight. The main cause, experts say: bad diet, including an increased reliance on highly processed foods.
Obese people had lost brain tissue in the frontal and temporal lobes, areas of the brain critical for planning and memory, and in the anterior cingulate gyrus (attention and executive functions), hippocampus (long-term memory) and basal ganglia (movement), the researchers said in a statement today. Overweight people showed brain loss in the basal ganglia, the corona radiata, white matter comprised of axons, and the parietal lobe (sensory lobe).
“The brains of obese people looked 16 years older than the brains of those who were lean, and in overweight people looked 8 years older,” Thompson said.
Obesity is measured by body mass index (BMI), defined as the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters. A BMI over 25 is defined as overweight, and a BMI of over 30 as obese.
The research was funded by the National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Center for Research Resources, and the American Heart Association.
OINK!
ReplyDeletePig is that an angry oink? The truth does not make me angry. Think about it, except for the arts most of today's brain power is used to do bad things.
ReplyDeleteThe Chef is a creative guy but really how many Chefs do we need?
Oink! :-)
DeleteFat chicks are not very bright.
ReplyDeleteWhat a load of contrived scare tactic crap. My wife has been super obese almost all her life and she is still smarter than 90% of the ignorant dribbling morons living all over this country. She holds an MBA from the Univ of Maryland and runs a very successful small business selling bariatric home health equipment to fellow gluttons and their families. She has recently branched out selling bariatric equipment to local hospitals as well. She may be monstrously obese and slow moving but her mind is sharp, clear and capable of critical thinking in ways that most people can’t even keep up with.
ReplyDeleteShe maybe the exception that proves the rule. Let's face facts here, estrogen is what makes women stupid and fat stores estrogen. Maybe if your SSBBW wife was skinny she'd be the next Stephen Hawking.
DeleteI have to go with the science on this one. Sure it would be nice if women were as smart as men but they simply are not.
My best friend Proud FA is able to pork monsterously huge women but fat men can't successfully pork fatlings. It makes it tough all around. Skinny chicks are as rare as rocking horse shit these days and one that will fuck a fat guy without having to get paid first are as rarer than rocking horse shit on the moon or an honest Republican.
I love the fact that you have a gluttonous wife who is enabling other fatties to live the lifestyle but let's face facts, one average thinlings are smarter than fatlings but because we eat all the foods we love and are uninhibited gluttons we are far happier.
Brother, you just gave me the laugh of the week! Two thumbs up for "rocking horse shit on the moon" - hysterical.
DeleteAs my good friend Pig would say.... OINK!.... but in a happy sort of way.
Delete