WEIGHT DRIVES BRAIN SHRINKAGE...

Interesting article which again confirms the link between obesity and inflammageing...

“The overall message is that brains basically appear to be 10 years older if you are overweight or obese,” said Lisa Ronan, first author of the study from the University of Cambridge.

Despite a higher BMI being linked to a smaller volume of white matter, it did not appear to have any link to mental prowess, with no difference seen between lean and overweight or obese participants when they were subjected to IQ tests. “While cognition does change in the general population as you age, that is just perfectly normal; there were no differences in these changes between lean and overweight or obese [people],” Ronan said.

While the new research involved only cognitively healthy individuals, Ronan adds that further work is needed to probe the influence of BMI-linked brain ageing and neurodegenerative conditions. “This study raises the possibility that if you are overweight or obese you may be more susceptible to diseases [linked] to age-related decline such as dementia and Alzheimer’s,” she said.