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Papers

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

BMJ 2005; 330 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.38446.466238.E0 (Published 09 June 2005) Cite this as: BMJ 2005;330:1360

Rapid Response:

Common factor is loss of DHEA...

It is my hypothesis that DHEA levels positively affect all tissues. Low DHEA has been connected to obesity and dementia. DHEA naturally begins to decline around age 20-25, reaching very low levels in old age.

Obesity in middle age may indicate that DHEA levels are lower than should be and this will have a negative impact on individuals whose brains are vulnerable to the low levels of DHEA of ageing.

I suggest the common factor in this study is low DHEA.

Competing interests: None declared

Competing interests: No competing interests

02 May 2005
James M. Howard
independent biologist
Fayetteville, Arkansas, U.S.A.