What is the link between obesity and Alzheimer’s disease…a study that explains it!

YNP:

A recent study led by the University of Washington found that obesity may accelerate the progression of Alzheimer’s disease at a much faster rate than previously thought, by accelerating the increase in blood biomarkers associated with the disease.

The study, which is the first of its kind to examine the effect of obesity on blood biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease, showed that obese people experience a faster increase in disease-associated tau protein, at a rate of between 29% and 95% compared to non-obese people, in part because of their increased blood volume.

Long-term neuroimaging data and plasma analyzes have also shown that obesity is associated with an accelerated increase in proteins associated with neurodegeneration, as well as increased accumulation of amyloid proteins in the brain.

The researchers drew on data collected over a five-year period from 407 volunteers as part of the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, which included positron emission tomography scans to detect amyloid, in addition to blood samples.

Over time, the results of measuring the concentration of tau 217 protein in plasma, in addition to brain scans, showed a greater accumulation of indicators of Alzheimer’s disease in obese participants than in others. Obesity was also associated with a 24% faster increase in plasma NfL and a 3.7% faster increase in amyloid protein accumulation.

Lead researcher Suhail Mohammadi pointed out that increased blood volume in obese people is a contributing factor to high levels of proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease, emphasizing that understanding the effect of obesity on the development of amyloid burden and the accompanying changes in blood biomarkers has important implications for improving risk assessment and ways to treat them medically.