Much to the surprise of the whole scientific community, a large study conducted has been able to prove what no one could have expected. Middle aged obese people have a lower risk (nearly 30%) of developing dementia than people of healthy weight. The study was published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology Journal.
To carry out the study, medical records of nearly two million people (1,958,191 to be exact) were referred to. Earlier, it was suggested that obesity is directly related to developing higher risks of coming up with dementia.
Professor Stuart Pocock from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was excited to see the results of the study. He believes that these results have created a “new avenue in the search” for protection against the disease.
He further believes that understanding why people with high BMI have lesser chances of coming up with the disease will help to develop new treatments against dementia.
To carry out the study, it was necessary that people with an average median age of 55 years were to be studied. Also, the Body Mass Index ratio (BMI) of these people had to be just above 26.5kg/m2 (kilograms per square meter). This is the level above which, people are classified obese.
However, during the subsequent 9 years, nearly 50,000 (45,507 to be precise) were diagnosed of Dementia. However, people who were underweight in middle age were 34 % more likely to come up with the disease than those, who were obese in their middle ages.
Also, the increased risk of dementia had persisted even after 15 years since that underweight had been recorded. 29 percent of people having very high BMI (above 40 kg/m2) are 29% less likely to come up with dementia than people in normal weight range.
Lead author of the study, Nawab Qizilbash from OXON Epidemiology mentioned the links between very high BMI and reduced risks of dementia “are not clear” and “further work is needed” to better understand the case.