Wow, very interesting, although the usual "correlation or causation" question can be brought up.
QuoteObese People Have 'Severe Brain Degeneration'
By LiveScience Staff
posted: 25 August 2009 09:59 am ET
A new study finds obese people have 8 percent less brain tissue than normal-weight individuals. Their brains look 16 years older than the brains of lean individuals, researchers said today.
Those classified as overweight have 4 percent less brain tissue and their brains appear to have aged prematurely by 8 years.
The results, based on brain scans of 94 people in their 70s, represent "severe brain degeneration," said Paul Thompson, senior author of the study and a UCLA professor of neurology.
"That's a big loss of tissue and it depletes your cognitive reserves, putting you at much greater risk of Alzheimer's and other diseases that attack the brain," said Thompson. "But you can greatly reduce your risk for Alzheimer's, if you can eat healthily and keep your weight under control."
The findings are detailed in the online edition of the journal Human Brain Mapping.
Obesity packs many negative health effects, including increased risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and some cancers. It's also been shown to reduce sexual activity.
More than 300 million worldwide are now classified as obese, according to the World Health Organization. Another billion are overweight. The main cause, experts say: bad diet, including an increased reliance on highly processed foods.
Obese people had lost brain tissue in the frontal and temporal lobes, areas of the brain critical for planning and memory, and in the anterior cingulate gyrus (attention and executive functions), hippocampus (long-term memory) and basal ganglia (movement), the researchers said in a statement today. Overweight people showed brain loss in the basal ganglia, the corona radiata, white matter comprised of axons, and the parietal lobe (sensory lobe).
"The brains of obese people looked 16 years older than the brains of those who were lean, and in overweight people looked 8 years older," Thompson said.
Obesity is measured by body mass index (BMI), defined as the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters. A BMI over 25 is defined as overweight, and a BMI of over 30 as obese.
The research was funded by the National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Center for Research Resources, and the American Heart Association.
I think it rather unlikely that people with less brain tissue tend to eat more or less healthily, but do not find it ahrd to believe at all that being overweight could have such an effect - the more we find out about obesity, the more we find out that it is bad in all kinds of new and exciting ways.
Shouldn't really come as any surprise, I guess. Not like our biology would really be suited to dealing with consistent obesity, seeing as it is a very recent (biologically) problem.
Indeed. Our bodies are rather good at coping with starvation however as many dieters has found to their annoyance. <_<
Quote from: Cecil on August 25, 2009, 12:18:26 PM
Indeed. Our bodies are rather good at coping with starvation however as many dieters has found to their annoyance. <_<
Indeed. We are very well suited to taking in calories of almost any form and efficiently converting them to fat and storing them away. Which is why people getting overly worked up about the *kind* of calories they consume is a bit silly, within reason. Your body will turn it all into fat just fine if you take in more than you burn, so pigging out on "lowfat" food does you no good.
A calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, for all practical purposes.
And apparently they turn your brain to mush.
It is kind of scary to imagine how smart I *would* be...
I'd like to see that study. With only 94 participants, it doesn't seem like a valid scientific study.
Quote from: Berkut on August 25, 2009, 12:29:47 PM
Quote from: Cecil on August 25, 2009, 12:18:26 PM
Indeed. Our bodies are rather good at coping with starvation however as many dieters has found to their annoyance. <_<
Indeed. We are very well suited to taking in calories of almost any form and efficiently converting them to fat and storing them away. Which is why people getting overly worked up about the *kind* of calories they consume is a bit silly, within reason. Your body will turn it all into fat just fine if you take in more than you burn, so pigging out on "lowfat" food does you no good.
A calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, for all practical purposes.
And apparently they turn your brain to mush.
It is kind of scary to imagine how smart I *would* be...
Two people will the intellectual prowess of Marty.
Quote from: Berkut on August 25, 2009, 12:29:47 PM
And apparently they turn your brain to mush.
Looking at the areas it's discussing as losing mass, I wonder if it's not more a matter of atrophy. If you don't use it, you lose, and the areas they're talking about are not areas that will commonly be challenged when a person is overweight.
Could dehydration be a contributing factor? An obese body would presumably require even more fluids than a "normal" body, and I remember a strong hypothesis floating around that Alzheimer's was linked to loss of brain matter through dehydration. :unsure:
Could it be a vuscular problem? The fatty blood vessels in the brain reduce the circulation, and lead to cell death.
Quote from: merithyn on August 25, 2009, 12:38:17 PM
Quote from: Berkut on August 25, 2009, 12:29:47 PM
And apparently they turn your brain to mush.
Looking at the areas it's discussing as losing mass, I wonder if it's not more a matter of atrophy. If you don't use it, you lose, and the areas they're talking about are not areas that will commonly be challenged when a person is overweight.
Attention and long-term memory, among other things?
This is a shocker.
Quote from: merithyn on August 25, 2009, 12:36:33 PM
I'd like to see that study. With only 94 participants, it doesn't seem like a valid scientific study.
They ate the other participants. :(
No Jaron jokes?
Is Jaron fat or stupid?
Is this to some extent self-selection, you think? I guess poor people are more likely to be fat, and stupid people are more likely to not have control over what they do/eat.
And I love that science is now backing up all my prejudices. Fat people = dumb. Jews=naturally gifted and cool. What's next? Gay Polish Lawyers=Composed mostly of bullshit?
I suspect it is to do with arteriosclerosis and poor circulation. The brain needs a lot of energy to function and I suspect without it, it'll age earlier
Quote from: Queequeg on August 25, 2009, 06:45:44 PM
What's next? Gay Polish Lawyers=Composed mostly of bullshit?
That one I believe.
anyhow I need to *gain* some weight.
Quote from: saskganesh on August 26, 2009, 01:12:12 PM
anyhow I need to *gain* some weight.
You can have some of mine!
Quote from: saskganesh on August 26, 2009, 01:12:12 PM
anyhow I need to *gain* some weight.
Not as easy as one might think.
Quote from: DGuller on August 26, 2009, 01:13:53 PM
Quote from: saskganesh on August 26, 2009, 01:12:12 PM
anyhow I need to *gain* some weight.
Not as easy as one might think.
Marty says all you have to do is eat a bunch - everyone is the same after all, so gaining weight must be equally easy for all.
Quote from: DGuller on August 26, 2009, 01:13:53 PM
Quote from: saskganesh on August 26, 2009, 01:12:12 PM
anyhow I need to *gain* some weight.
Not as easy as one might think.
I've had a doctor nagging me to gain around 20 pounds to get up to the weight for a 6 foot tall person. I just can't pack on the pounds.
Quote from: Ed Anger on August 26, 2009, 02:28:59 PM
I've had a doctor nagging me to gain around 20 pounds to get up to the weight for a 6 foot tall person. I just can't pack on the pounds.
Why have we never seen a picture of you? Who knows - you might be hot!
G.
Quote from: Grallon on August 26, 2009, 04:26:19 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on August 26, 2009, 02:28:59 PM
I've had a doctor nagging me to gain around 20 pounds to get up to the weight for a 6 foot tall person. I just can't pack on the pounds.
Why have we never seen a picture of you? Who knows - you might be hot!
G.
Responses like that are one reason.
He can't be that bad looking if a woman ten years younger married him. He's rich, but not that rich.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on August 26, 2009, 04:30:00 PM
He can't be that bad looking if a woman ten years younger married him. He's rich, but not that rich.
We havent seen her picture either. ;)
:P
Quote from: crazy canuck on August 26, 2009, 05:23:15 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on August 26, 2009, 04:30:00 PM
He can't be that bad looking if a woman ten years younger married him. He's rich, but not that rich.
We havent seen her picture either. ;)
:P
He did post that his wife devoured a 1400 calorie Hardee's thickburger for lunch.
Isn't his wife pregnant? :unsure:
Quote from: alfred russel on August 26, 2009, 05:30:34 PM
He did post that his wife devoured a 1400 calorie Hardee's thickburger for lunch.
By thinkburger I thought he meant... nevermind.
Quote from: merithyn on August 26, 2009, 05:36:25 PM
Isn't his wife pregnant? :unsure:
I don't care, his child may have a heart attack before he is born with all the cholesterol in there.
Fat people need to deploy.
16 months in the sandbox as an infantryman and all their problems will be gone.
Quote from: Siege on August 26, 2009, 06:00:31 PM
Fat people need to deploy.
16 months in the sandbox as an infantryman and all their problems will be gone.
They wouldn't let me. So fuck you.
Quote from: Siege on August 26, 2009, 06:00:31 PM
Fat people need to deploy.
16 months in the sandbox as an infantryman and all their problems will be gone.
If the army needs a somewhat overweight nearly 30 year old infantryman, sign me up. :smoke:
Quote from: Jaron on August 26, 2009, 06:08:24 PM
Quote from: Siege on August 26, 2009, 06:00:31 PM
Fat people need to deploy.
16 months in the sandbox as an infantryman and all their problems will be gone.
If the army needs a somewhat overweight nearly 30 year old infantryman, sign me up. :smoke:
I know you're joking, but they'd certainly take you.
Quote from: Jaron on August 26, 2009, 06:08:24 PM
Quote from: Siege on August 26, 2009, 06:00:31 PM
Fat people need to deploy.
16 months in the sandbox as an infantryman and all their problems will be gone.
If the army needs a somewhat overweight nearly 30 year old infantryman, sign me up. :smoke:
I was 33 when I signed up.
Of course, I've never been overweight and I brought with me a shitload of years of experience fighting real terrorists.
But still, I was 33.
Quote from: Barrister on August 26, 2009, 06:12:04 PM
Quote from: Jaron on August 26, 2009, 06:08:24 PM
Quote from: Siege on August 26, 2009, 06:00:31 PM
Fat people need to deploy.
16 months in the sandbox as an infantryman and all their problems will be gone.
If the army needs a somewhat overweight nearly 30 year old infantryman, sign me up. :smoke:
I know you're joking, but they'd certainly take you.
Sad state of affairs, that :lol
Quote from: alfred russel on August 26, 2009, 05:38:30 PM
Quote from: merithyn on August 26, 2009, 05:36:25 PM
Isn't his wife pregnant? :unsure:
I don't care, his child may have a heart attack before he is born with all the cholesterol in there.
That would save on hospital bills.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on August 26, 2009, 04:30:00 PM
...
He can't be that bad looking if a woman ten years younger married him. He's rich, but not that rich.
I don't recall, are you with anyone? If not - why do you bother with things that do not concern you?
G.