Obesity in middle age and future risk of dementia: a 27 year longitudinal population based study

doi:10.1136/bmj.38446.466238.E0

BMJ 2005;330:1360 (11 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.38446.466238.E0 (published 29 April 2005)

Paper

Obesity in middle age and future risk of dementia: a 27 year longitudinal population based study

Rachel A Whitmer, gerontological epidemiologist¹, Erica P Gunderson, obesity epidemiologist¹, Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, professor², Charles P Quesenberry, Jr, senior biostatistician¹, Kristine Yaffe, associate professor³

¹ Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA 94612, USA, ² Department of Epidemiology, University of California, La Jolla, CA, USA, ³ Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

Correspondence to: R A Whitmer raw{at}dor.kaiser.org

Objective To evaluate any association between obesity in middleage, measured by body mass index and skinfold thickness, andrisk of dementia later in life.

Design Analysis of prospective data from a multiethnic populationbased cohort.

Setting Kaiser Permanente Northern California Medical Group,a healthcare delivery organisation.

Participants 10 276 men and women who underwent detailed healthevaluations from 1964 to 1973 when they were aged 40-45 andwho were still members of the health plan in 1994.

Main outcome measures Diagnosis of dementia from January 1994to April 2003. Time to diagnosis was analysed with Cox proportionalhazard models adjusted for age, sex, race, education, smoking,alcohol use, marital status, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia,stroke, and ischaemic heart disease.

Results Dementia was diagnosed in 713 (6.9%) participants. Obesepeople (body mass index $≥$ 30) had a 74% increased risk of dementia(hazard ratio 1.74, 95% confidence interval 1.34 to 2.26), whileoverweight people (body mass index 25.0-29.9) had a 35% greaterrisk of dementia (1.35, 1.14 to 1.60) compared with those ofnormal weight (body mass index 18.6-24.9). Compared with thosein the lowest fifth, men and women in the highest fifth of thedistribution of subscapular or tricep skinfold thickness hada 72% and 59% greater risk of dementia, respectively (1.72,1.36 to 2.18, and 1.59, 1.24 to 2.04).

Conclusions Obesity in middle age increases the risk of futuredementia independently of comorbid conditions.

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Find additional patient-related information at:

: Middle Age Obesity and the Risk of Dementia
: Shaping America\'s Health--Association for Weight Management and Obesity Prevention

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Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Common factor is loss of DHEA...: James M. Howard
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Query: Brian S. Ferguson
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Association between obesity and dementia may be spurious: Janneke N Belo, et al.
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