Posted on 08/25/2009 10:45:42 AM PDT by Dysart
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," said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Then that explains a lot...how could they be expected to plan or remember to stay on their diet. /sarcasm
I guess they never interviewed any NFL players. Most are in shape and as dumb as a box of rocks.
Mmmm...I need a cheese-steak injection. Stat!
*lol*
Ugh. After that revelation...must have food, me hungry.
Some could have thyroid issues, which can dull one’s thinking considerably.
Yup, he’s lost at least 25%. I just wonder what erally is considered overweight. If I went by many of these guidelines, I’d look and feel like I were suffering from malnutrition. Besides, I prefer having a bit of meat on my bones.....no desire to be a male Twiggy.
Sung to the tune of Particle Man:
AreaMan, AreaMan, size of an entire area, man
He eats cheesesteaks like nobody can
AreaMan
Oh - and finally - the last post was a joke.
But more seriously: correlation is not causation. How many times must this be said? Perhaps stupid people are simply more prone to become obese. Seriously.
Wow, 94 whole people is your sampling? Whew!
Istam-bul, not Constantinople!
What is it today? Junk science extravaganza? Any claims that brain size is related to inrelligence, or especially wisdom, have been thoroughly debunked. einstein had a smaller than average brain fer crissakes. They call themselves live science. LOL! Live pseudo-science is more like it.
LOL That would explain it :)
With all that brain loss, is the quality of life for obese/overweight people such that they should be denied healthcare in favor of the skinny? Ask your federal healthcare allocation panel.
Am I the only one getting disgusted with this latest fad of dumping on the obese? Put ten pounds on an by some insurance standards, you are obese. According to that, there aren’t many people over 25 who aren’t obese. Not to mention with all the “oooh, you’re fat so you’re gonna DIE!” bs, how was it possible the professor found any live 70 year old subjects if that is the case? I’m sick of the studies. I’m sick of the government telling me or anyone else how to run their lives. I’m sick of the jokes. You can’t make polish jokes. You can’t make racial jokes. You can’t make gender jokes. Then what makes people think it’s ok to make fat jokes? I’m sick at people always inserting a picture of Michael Moore into “fat” posts. How ridiculous is it to blame weight on his leftist mindset.
bookmark
That could explain the behavior of one very fat person that I know... (not to say anything about Michael Moore... LOL...)...
ping for later
I think that all depends on a person’s projected ability to pay taxes or vote Democratic. Seems like that is the real criteria to determine who is worth saving.
*
not so "in shape" at least not the guys on the offensive line or even the defensive line...fat bellies.....sure, they can throw their weight around like a suma wrestler, but they are not in shape...
but its open season on obese people....its in vogue to attack them.....
however, their was a doctor on one of the morning shows that said somewhat overweight was not a bad thing, and perhaps even helpful in some respects....
personally, I don't see thin people as being any healthier nor happier, nor do they work harder or accomplish more....
infact, many thin people suffer from anxiety,osteoporosis,digestive problems,smoking, drinking, drugging, etc....
I carry some extra weight and I can guarentee that I run circles around people that are not only thinner but younger...
“their” should be “there”....don’t want my brain degeneration showing.....LOL
I did a search on “obese”. This thread didn’t come up.
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.
Oh, perhaps you were searching in news rather than chat. The rules here pertaining to scientific articles are tough to cipher for me, so i just throw anything related to the sciences in chat, as bizarre as that may seem it works for me.
Didn’t show up on search for “obese”
Did show up on search for “brain”
Well, it’s Tuesday and the moon is not full, so who the hell knows what’s gonna happen...
Exactly! That is kind of a broad brush for me to take it too serious. Some people are a little loose with the truth these days when they have an agenda.
******
http://4dbrain.org/thompson_files/p2.jpg
Paul Thompson, Ph.D.
Professor of Neurology
Lab of Neuro Imaging
UCLA School of Medicine
635 Charles E. Young Drive South
Suite 225E
Los Angeles, CA 90095-7332
Phone: 310-206-2101
FAX: 310-206-5518
thompson@loni
http://www.endalzheimers.com/brainlane/images/PaulThompsonUCLA.jpg
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