Page 7 - IAV Digital Magazine #466

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
New Study Says The Bigger Your Belly, The Smaller Your Brain
A new study has found a link between the breadth of your belly and the size and shape of your brain, as findings, pub- lished in the medical journal Neurology, showed that peo- ple who are too heavy, especially around their mid- dle, have shrunk- en gray matter volume in their brain.
Gray matter con- tains most of your brain’s 100 billion nerve cells, while white matter is filled with nerve fibers that connect the brain regions.
The Scientists at the University College London and Loughborough University in the UK reached these conclu- sions by studying the UK Biobank, a vast stockpile of data on indi- viduals’ genetics
and health.
They looked at almost 9,652 people in the UK, with an average age of 55, accounting for all kinds of other factors that could potentially sway the results, such as age and how physically active they were.
Measuring the body mass index (BMI) and the waist-to-hip ratios of its participants,
the research found that those with higher ratios of both criteria had the lowest brain volume.
In fact, the differ- ence was sub- stantial: people with high BMI and a high waist- to-hip ratio had an average gray matter brain vol- ume of 786 cubic centimeters, while healthy weight people had an average of 798 cubic cen-
timeters.
People in the middle, with a high BMI but without high waist-to-hip ratio, had an of 793 cubic centime- ters. The white matter, however, did not appear to be affected by obesity.
“While our study found obesity, especially around the middle, was associated with lower gray matter
brain volumes, it’s unclear if abnormalities in brain structure lead to obesity, or if obesity leads to these changes in the brain,” study author Dr Mark Hamer said in a statement.
“We also found links between obesity and shrinkage in spe- cific regions of the brain. This will need further research but it may be possible
that someday regularly measur- ing BMI and waist-to-hip ratio may help deter- mine brain health.”
Meanwhile, the connection between reduced brain volume and abdominal fat could suggest that inflammation and vascular fac- tors may be at work.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine