On August 9th, WebMD featured commentary from 2015 AFAR Research Grant recipient, Mike Henne, PhD, on the implications of new research showing a correlation between being overweight or obese in middle age and dramatically reduced white matter in the brain.
Research coming out the UK found that being overweight or obese in middle age shrinks your brain, aging it by as much as 10 years. According to Dr. Henne, ''The white matter of the brain is thought to be the first to go with dementia." While, the new study did not link being overweight with an earlier onset of thinking problems and dementia, Dr. Henne believes that this is neglected area that requires increased research attention.
This discussion has sparked interest and has been picked up by a range of additional outlets including Yahoo Finance and the Science World Report.
Mike Henne, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas, Southwest Medical Center.
Learn more about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia research in our InfoAging portal.
