Obesity linked to higher risk of age-related dementia

Obesity can increase a person's likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease by up to 80 per cent, a new study has found.

In a recent international review, researchers in the US revealed that people who are obese or underweight are at higher risk of suffering from dementia as they age.

Commenting on the report, Dr Youfa Wang, associate professor of International Health and Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, said: "Our meta-analysis showed that obesity increased the relative risk of dementia, for both sexes, by an average of 42 per cent when compared with normal weight."

According to the review's authors, obese women are more at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, while men suffering from obesity are more likely to have vascular dementia.

Dr Wang added: "We believe that our results show that reducing the prevalence of obesity is a promising strategy for preventing the progression of normal aging into Alzheimer's disease."

An estimated ten per cent of people over 65 years old are affected by some form of dementia, with Alzheimer's accounting for two-thirds.