A new study has linked belly fat to the development of Alzheimer’s disease

Would you suspect that having more belly fat increases your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease?

Scientists recently found that having more abdominal fat, also called visceral fat, has been linked to the early development of abnormal proteins in the brain which might be a trademark of Alzheimer’s disease, a brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and considering skills. According to the Cleveland Clinic, visceral fat is a “dangerous” type of fat “found deep in the abdominal cavity (and) surrounding important organs, including the stomach, liver and intestines.”

“Our study showed that higher visceral fat was associated with higher PET levels of two pathological proteins characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease – amyloid and tau,” said lead writer of the study, Dr. Mahsa Dolatshahi: according to People magazine. “To our knowledge, our study is the only one to report these findings in midlife, when our participants were several decades removed from the onset of the earliest symptoms of dementia resulting from Alzheimer’s disease.”

Findings presented at Annual meeting of the Radiological Society of America On December 2, they found that the presence of this fat causes people of their 40s and 50s, many years before widespread cognitive decline, to produce the proteins beta-amyloid and tau, also generally known as the “trigger and bullet” of Alzheimer’s disease.

“Because the study showed these associations decades before cognitive decline and expected diagnosis, focusing on reducing belly fat may be one of our most powerful tools in the fight against this terrible disease,” preventive neurologist Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of research at the Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases in Florida he told CNN.

It’s similar with Alzheimer’s disease the most typical type of dementiaaffecting African Americans to a greater extent. Typically, symptoms begin after age 60, but experts say you may reduce your risk of dementia by staying physically lively and managing conditions comparable to diabetes and hypertension.

“This work will have a significant impact on public health,” added the study’s senior writer, Dr. Cyrus A. Raji. “The knowledge that visceral obesity negatively affects the brain opens the possibility that treatment with lifestyle modifications or appropriate weight-loss medications may improve cerebral blood flow and potentially reduce the burden and risk of Alzheimer’s disease.”