Top line:
In middle-aged men who are at high risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD), increased pancreatic fat is associated with decreased cognition and brain volume.
methodology:
Obesity is a well-known risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia, and body fat distribution can influence the risk and underlying mechanisms of fat-brain cognitive pathways. This study investigated the association between several abdominal fat deposits and cognitive function and Alzheimer's disease. The study sample included 204 men and women (mean age 59 years, 60% women) from the Israel Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Prevention who were at high risk for Alzheimer's disease due to parental family history. Abdominal MRI scan assessed accumulated fat as follows: These include subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) under the skin, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) around abdominal organs, and ectopic, a harmful condition in which lipids accumulate in lean tissues such as the liver and pancreas. . Structural volumetric brain MRI scans were performed by 142 people. Participants rate specific areas related to selected previous studies.
remove:
Higher BMI was associated with higher pancreatic fat percentage in both men and women (P < .001) and higher SAT percentage in women (P = .01), but not with VAT percentage in either gender. It wasn't. After adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors, higher pancreatic fat percentage was associated with poorer global cognition (β, −0.33; P = 0.02) and executive function (β, −0.32; P = 0.02) in men; Women have lower hippocampal volume (β; in men only, higher SAT percentage is associated with lower middle frontal gyrus volume (β, −0.27; P = 0.03), and higher VAT percentage is associated with lower middle frontal gyrus volume (β, −0.27; P = 0.03); Larger gyrus volume (β, 0.29; P = 0.03) and superior frontal gyrus volume (β, 0.31; P = 0.02) were associated with larger gyrus volume (β, 0.29; P = 0.02). Liver fat was associated with brain volume and cognition in both men and women. were not related.
in fact:
“These results suggest that abdominal fat accumulation, already in midlife, may have a negative impact on brain health, especially in men,” the authors write.
sauce:
The study was led by Sapir G. Shechtman of Tel Aviv University School of Medicine in Tel Aviv, Israel, and was published online in the journal Obesity (Silver Spring).
Limitations:
Due to the cross-sectional nature of this study, causal inferences could not be made. This does not represent the entire population of middle-aged adults, but rather those at high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Factors that contribute to fat storage, such as menopausal status and treatments, inflammation, insulin resistance, daily exercise, and dietary factors, were not included in this study.
Disclosure:
This research was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. The authors declared that they had no conflicts of interest.