| > | | | | Another downer: overweight people generally were |
| | | | 35 percent more likely to have the brain illness (or |
| In the article Dementia: Just What Is It, we have | | | | condition). |
| learned about a frightening term, Dementia, and just | | | | According to Rachel A. Whitmer, a research scientist |
| what it is or, rather, how it manifests itself in the | | | | at Kaiser Permanente, a non-profit medical group in |
| human condition. I gave 5 examples from my | | | | Oakland, CA, We’re having an epidemic of |
| personal knowledge, including myself. | | | | obesity that we’ve never seen before and |
| It would appear that Dementia, in its milder | | | | we know it causes a wide variety of illness. And now |
| forms, is nothing more than a mild loss of memory. In | | | | we can add to the list. We are going to see an |
| its more severe, but still mild, forms, it can take the | | | | unprecedented increase in dementia as the baby |
| guise of mild disorientation; sometimes so mild that | | | | boomers age. |
| one is not even aware of being disoriented. The | | | | It’s not known whether people can lower |
| milder cases were likely referred to in olden times as | | | | their risk of dementia if they lose the excess weight, |
| senility. Something none of us ever aspired to. | | | | but that’s one of the implications of the |
| However, there is a new body of information | | | | study, Whitmer says. |
| accumulating, and now published, which indicates that | | | | In addition, two smaller studies also found signs of |
| dementia could be the result of a natural | | | | brain atrophy, or shrinkage, among women with a |
| condition, and which, if true, puts at least half of the | | | | high body mass index (or BMI — a measure of |
| North American population at risk! | | | | body fat based on a ratio of weight to height). A |
| What is that condition? It is obesity and it is | | | | normal BMI is between 18.6 and 24.9. |
| rampant in North America, affecting at some | | | | Finally, a recent Swedish study found a high BMI in |
| estimates upwards of 60% of the population. And, | | | | old age is associated with an increased risk of |
| according to a recent study published in the British | | | | dementia in women. |
| Medical Journal, it is particularly harmful to people in | | | | OK, the jury is still out. Is it guaranteed that just |
| the 40’s and up. The study tracked 10,000 | | | | being overweight means I will get dementia? And, is |
| men and women over a period of 27 years. | | | | this a disease or is it a condition of |
| US scientists found people who were obese and | | | | imbalance. Finally, in either case, can it be |
| between the ages of 40 and 45 were 74 per cent | | | | corrected and if so, how? Will it respond to diet? Will |
| more likely to have dementia later in life compared to | | | | it respond to aromatherapy? Will it respond only to |
| those of normal weight. And its worse for | | | | medical (read that chemical) intervention? |
| women: women were 200 per cent more likely to | | | | Interesting questions for future articles on Dementia |
| have dementia if they were obese in their | | | | so stay tuned. |
| 40’s. | | | | |