The adverse affects of being overweight are not limited to physical function but also extend to neurological function, according to research in the latest issue of The Journals of Gerontology…
“One of the unanticipated consequences of improved medical management of cardiovascular disease is that many obese individuals reach old age,” said Journal Editor Luigi Ferrucci, MD, PhD, of the National Institute on Aging. “We need a better understanding of the causes and consequences of obesity in older individuals — especially when obesity is associated with sarcopenia.”
A study headed by Anna Dahl, MS, of Sweden’s Jönköping University, found that individuals with higher midlife body mass index (BMI) scores had significantly lower general cognitive ability and significantly steeper decline than their thinner counterparts over time. These statistics were compiled from a study of Swedish twins that took place over the course of nearly 40 years, from 1963 to 2002; the results were the same for both men and women…
Similarly, changes in weight also signify declines in overall health. A team of researchers led by Alice M. Arnold, PhD, of the University of Washington, Seattle, found that such fluctuations are significant indicators of future physical limitations and mortality in the elderly. Arnold and her colleagues used data from the Cardiovacscular Health Study…They discovered that a history of cyclically losing and gaining weight increased a person’s chance of having difficulty with activities of daily living — bathing, dressing, eating, etc. — by 28 percent.
I, uh, forgot what I was going to say…