Study: The Fatter You Get The More Your Brain Shrinks, Ages

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We know that being overweight puts us at risk of health issues like diabetes and heart disease. But a mind-boggling new study indicates that obesity also affects your brain in two scary ways -- it shrinks and prematurely ages it!

According to a story that appeared on LiveScience.com just two days ago, "A new study finds obese people have 8 percent less brain tissue than normal-weight individuals. Their brains look 16 years older than the brains of lean individuals..."

The study also found that men and women classified as "overweight" have 4 percent less brain tissue and their brains appear to have aged prematurely by 8 years.

The bottom line: The bigger you grow the more your brain shrinks and ages!

The frightening results are based on the brain scans of 94 people in their 70s and represent "severe brain degeneration," says Paul Thompson, senior author of the study and a UCLA professor of neurology.

"That's a big loss of tissue and it depletes your cognitive reserves, putting you at much greater risk of Alzheimer's and other diseases that attack the brain," Thompson says. "But you can greatly reduce your risk for Alzheimer's, if you can eat healthily and keep your weight under control."

The research was funded by the National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Center for Research Resources, and the American Heart Association.

To read the complete story, go here

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090825/sc_livescience/obesepeoplehaveseverebraindegeneration


Author: John McGran

Archived posts 2009

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