IMAGE: The brain with all areas of white matter visible. Areas of white matter are prone to damage in people with unregulated cardiovascular risks such as obesity. view more
Credit: University of Sheffield
A new study from the University of Sheffield has found that being obese is a burden in addition to brain health and could make Alzheimer’s disease worse.
The advanced multimodal neuroimaging study showed that obesity may contribute to thin neural vulnerability, while maintaining a healthy weight in Alzheimer’s disease depression may help preserve brain structure .
The findings, published in Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports, also highlights the potential impact of mid-life obesity on brain health in old age.
Lead author of the study, Professor Annalena Venneri from the University of Sheffield Institute of Neuroscience and Sheffield NIHR Biomedical Research Center, said: “It is estimated that more than 50 million people live with Alzheimer’s disease and despite decades of advanced studies and a vast world of research effort we do not yet have a cure for this chronic disease.
“Prevention plays such an important role in the fight against the disease. It is important to emphasize that this study does not show that obesity causes Alzheimer’s, but what it does show is that being obese is a burden in addition to brain health and can contribute to the disease. ”
She said: “The diseases that cause depression such as Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia are declining on the back for many years, so wait until your 60s to lose weight too late. We need to start Thinking about brain health and preventing these diseases much earlier. It is vital that children and adolescents are educated about the burden of being overweight on multiple species including neurodegenerative diseases. ”
Researchers from the University of Sheffield and the University of Eastern Finland studied MRI brain scans from 47 clinically diagnosed patients with Alzheimer’s disease depression, 68 patients with debilitating mental disorders, and 57 healthy individuals.
The novel study used three supportive, computational methods to look at the anatomy of the brain, blood flow and also the brain fiber.
The international team compared several brain images and measured differences in local densities of brain tissue to measure the amount of gray matter – which declines when Alzheimers began – white matter integrity, cerebral blood flow and obesity.
In patients with depression, a positive association was found between obesity and the amount of gray matter around the right temporoparietal junction. This suggests that obesity may contribute to neural vulnerability in healthy individuals and those with debilitating mental disorders.
The study also found that maintaining a healthy weight in Alzheimer’s disease depression may help maintain brain structure in the presence of age and disease-related weight loss.
Co-author of the study, Dr Matteo De Marco from the University of Sheffield Institute of Neuroscience, said: “Weight loss is usually one of the first symptoms in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease because people forget to eat or start eating. ‘easy snack- to grab food like biscuits or crisps, instead of more nutritious food.
“We found that maintaining a healthy weight may help maintain brain structure in people who already suffer from dementia with Alzheimer’s disease. Unlike other diseases such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes. Sugar, people often don’t think about the importance of nutrition for brain diseases, but these findings show that it helps maintain brain structure. ”
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The study was conducted in collaboration with the University of East Finland. Professor Hilkka Soininen, co-author of the paper, said: “The findings highlight different perspectives on lifestyle and nutrition in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. It is important Avoiding obesity for brain health, but for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, it is essential to pay attention to proper nutrition and maintaining a healthy weight. “
The Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Sheffield brings together leading experts in medicine, science and engineering to better understand the nervous system and address the greatest challenges in neurology.
Contact the media: Amy Huxtable, Media Relations Officer, University of Sheffield, 0114 222 9859, [email protected]
Notes to Editors: To view the full paper, visit: https: /
University of Sheffield
With nearly 29,000 of the brightest students from more than 140 countries, studying alongside more than 1,200 top scholars from around the globe, the University of Sheffield is one of the leading universities in the world.
Sheffield is a member of the UK’s renowned Group of leading research-led institutions, offering world-class teaching and research excellence across a wide range of subjects.
United by the power of discovery and understanding, university staff and students are committed to finding new ways to transform the world in which we live.
Sheffield is the only university to appear in the Sunday Times Top 100 Non-Profit Groups for Work for 2018 and for the past eight years it has been ranked in the top five universities in the UK for Student Satisfaction with Times Higher Education.
Sheffield has six Nobel Prize winners among alumni and students and its alumni progress to careers with great responsibility and influence around the world, making a significant contribution to the fields they chose.
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About the NIHR Sheffield Biomedical Research Center
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation’s largest funder of health and care research. The NIHR:
- Funding, supporting and delivering high quality research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care
- Engage and involve patients, carers and the public to improve the accessibility, quality and impact of research
- Attracting, training and supporting the best researchers to address complex future health and care challenges
- Invest in world-class infrastructure and a skilled delivery team to turn findings into better treatments and services
- Partners with other public funders, charities and business to get the most out of patient research and the economy
The NIHR was established in 2006 to improve the health and well-being of the country through research, and is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. In addition to its national role, the NIHR commissions health research to benefit the poorest in low- and middle-income countries, using Official Development Assistance funding.
This work uses data provided by patients and collected by the NHS as part of their care and support and would not have been possible without access to this data. The NIHR recognizes and values the role of patient data, which is accessed and stored securely, both as a basis and as a result of developments in research and care. http: // www.