Being overweight linked to quicker deterioration of brain

According to a study conducted by the Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience, the brains of overweight people appeared 10 years older than those who were leaner in build.

The research found that the loss of white matter (responsible for transmitting information), which occurs naturally as people age, took place quicker in those people with extra weight.

The study, published in the journal Neurobiology of Ageing, examined the brains of 473 people aged between 20 and 87, consisting of a mixture of lean and overweight builds. The findings suggested that those in the overweight group had less white matter than their thinner peers.

However, the evidence was only clear in people who were middle-aged and older.

In an interview with the BBC, Dr Lisa Ronan, from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, who led the study, explained: "Obesity is so complex. We know an awful lot about what it does to the body.

"But what it does to the brain and how it interacts with obesity - we're at the beginning of understanding that."

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This story was first published in digitalhealth.net

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