Factors such as diabetes and belly fat in midlife can put you at risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease later in life. According to a US study published in the journal PLOS ONE, people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes before age 50 are at an increased risk for developing dementia than those diagnosed later in life, especially if they are obese.
Type 2 diabetes is no longer a disease of the elderly. Globally, about 20 per cent of people with type 2 diabetes are under 40. For the study, researchers followed 1,213 patients aged 50 and older with type 2 diabetes and no dementia, for up to 14 years. Over the study period, 17.8 per cent of the participants developed dementia. For each year younger a person was when their type 2 diabetes was diagnosed, their dementia risk increased by 1.9 per cent. Obese people whose type 2 diabetes was diagnosed before age 50 had a 3.05 times increased risk.
Another study presented at the Radiological Society of North America conference found that people with higher belly fat in their 40s and 50s have increased levels of two abnormal brain proteins, called amyloid and tau, that could increase their risk of Alzheimer’s disease later in life. Another study by the same group found that blood flow to a person’s brain worsened as levels of visceral fat rose.
Managing your weight and body fat in midlife could reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s disease later in life.