As Waistlines Widen, Brains Shrink

A new study shows that elderly people who are overweight or obese have significantly less brain tissue than those of normal weight. The difference was 4% for overweight people and 8% for the obese in a study of 94 people in their 70s. The volunteers were followed for five years, and anyone who showed cognitive impairment was excluded from the final sample.
"The brains of obese people looked 16 years older than their healthy counterparts while [those of] overweight people looked 8 years older," said UCLA neuroscientist Paul Thompson, senior author of a study published online in Human Brain Mapping.

Much of the lost tissue was in the frontal and temporal lobe regions of the brain, the seat of decision-making and memory, among other things.

It is not clear whether weight gain caused a reduction in brain tissue, or if a smaller brain contributes to weight gain, or there are other factors contributing to both. http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/08/25/as-waistlines-widen-brains-shrink.html -via Lifehacker

(image credit: Flickr user erat)

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When I turned 51 I started gaining weight. (I never could before) Man did I feel stupid! I cut down on the amount of food I ate and within 3 months I had lost 19 pounds and was back to the weight I was at age 23. I feel a lot smarter now.
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This study is absolute bollocks and anyone who believes any of the nonsense posited by it needs to smarten up.

Medical studies should consist of way more subjects than the number of people who attend the average wedding.

It's like the study that "showed" gamers aren't typical adolescents. When you read the study, it only interviewed people 19 and older.

Absolute crap, but the facts of it get lost in the story. "FAT PEOPLE WILL ROT THEIR BRAINS! HEHEHE! POINT AND LAUGH AT THE FAT PEOPLE" when there are a million other factors in play.
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