Can Obesity Lead To Brain Degeneration?

By Kat Fuschillo
Writer for FEP International

It has been known for some time that certain things like smoking for example, can cause a certain amount of brain degeneration. But now, it has been discovered that being overweight or obese can have the same damaging effect on your brain tissue. It seems that each and every day, obesity is being linked to more and more serious illnesses and conditions. That's why it's more important than ever before for adults and young children to maintain a healthy and normal weight. Being thin will help people increase their life expectancy, improve their quality of life, and live an illness free life.

It has now been estimated the there are close to 300 million cases of obesity worldwide, and this is a number that shows no signs of shrinking. In fact, the amount of sufferers with the condition is rising at such a rate, that doctors fear they will not be able to deal with the fall out. Because obesity is now the cause of so many serious conditions, it is predicted that hospitals will find it difficult to cope with all of the obesity related illness cases in futures years [1].

Obesity and brain degeneration...

Studies have shown that those who are heavily overweight or obese, have between 4 – 8% less brain tissue than those with a more normal or healthy weight. The studies also showed that the brains of the heavier individuals looked on average 8 - 16 years older than the others tested. The two main areas affect by the degeneration are the temporal and frontal lobes, but other parts of the brain will also see some damage. This brain damage will mostly effect the sufferers' memory, concentration and in some severe cases movement.

This level of degeneration makes overweight people far more likely to suffer from Alzheimer's in later life. Women are even more likely to suffer from obesity related dementia, if they are overweight for many years. If the overweight or obese person is a smoker, he or she is far more likely to damage their delicate brain tissues, which could lead to substantial degeneration. The combination of obesity and smoking also greatly increases peoples' risks of heart conditions and makes them more likely to suffer from heart attacks [2-3].

How to reduce your risk of obesity related brain degeneration...

The sooner you are able to get your weight under control, the less likely your brain will be affected by your excess weight. But, the longer you are overweight, the more susceptible you'll be to the gradual degeneration. The main cause of obesity is blamed on bad diet. This is why governments and health care professionals are urging people to take better care of themselves, and try to lose weight if needed. Not only will this help your brain stay younger in later life, but you'll also be far less likely to suffer from the long list of diseases such as diabetes, liver disease and cancer, which are linked to obesity. Obesity can considerably decrease your life expectancy, this is why it's so important to lose weight now, and to work at maintaining a healthy normal weight.


References

1. Study: Obese People Have 'Severe Brain Degeneration' –
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,542480,00.html. Accessed Aug 30, 2009.

2. Obese People Have 'Brain Degeneration' –
http://news.aol.com/health/article/obese-people-have-severe-brain/639382. Accessed Aug 30, 2009.

3. Obesity and smoking cut brain power –
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/211032.stm. Accessed Aug 30, 2009.