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Obesity Triggers Same Symptoms As Alzheimers Disease, Brain Maps Show

TOPSHOT - An overweight woman walks at the 61st Montgomery County Agricultural Fair on August 19, 2009 in Gaithersburg, Maryland. - At USD 150 billion, the US medical system spends around twice as much treating preventable health conditions caused by obesity than it does on cancer, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. Two-thirds of US adults and one in five children are overweight or obese, putting them at greater risk of chronic illness like heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes, according to reports released recently at the "Weight of the Nation" conference. AFP PHOTO / Tim Sloan (Photo by Tim SLOAN / AFP) (Photo by TIM SLOAN/AFP via Getty Images)
  • When we think about obesity, the longterm harms to heart health are often the first consequences that come to mind. Doctors now warn that excess weight can also take a dangerous toll on the brain. According to a new study, obesity can trigger symptoms we typically see in Alzheimer’s disease patients.
  • Both obesity and Alzheimer’s were found to thin gray matter in the same ways – in the right temporo-parietal cortex and left prefrontal cortex of the brain.
  • As a result, scientists claim losing weight could slow cognitive decline and lower the risk of dementia. Researchers from Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital at McGill University suggest that obesity and Alzheimer’s (AD) may cause the same type of neurodegeneration.
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