A new study has found people with excessive belly fat may develop Alzheimer’s 20 years earlier - with symptoms not developing for two decades.
Scans of obese middle-aged people have shown increased visceral fat correlates to higher amounts of sticky amyloid and tau tangles in the brain - both directly linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
Visceral fat is stored deep within the abdominal cavity and surrounds the stomach and abdomen, as well as important organs such as the liver and intestine.
Amyloid and tau are proteins that damage brain cells and disrupt cell communication.
A new study has found people with excessive belly fat may develop Alzheimer’s 20 years earlier (stock image)
PAThe study by Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) found an early onset of the disease for those with too much visceral fat may begin as early as age 40 or 50.
It found those with subcutaneous fat - pinchable fat located just beneath the skin - exhibited no increase in tau or amyloid.
The results come following recent statistics that nearly two-thirds of adults in England are overweight or obese.
Researchers conducted brain scans using positron emission tomography (PET) on 80 cognitively-well people - the group averaged age 49.
Researchers conducted brain scans using positron emission tomography (stock image)
GettyLead study author at WUSM Dr Mahsa Dolatshahi said: “Our study showed that higher visceral fat was associated with higher levels of the two hallmark pathologic proteins of Alzheimer’s disease - amyloid and tau.”
The research also found that higher visceral fat was associated with low blood flow into the memory centre of the brain which is linked to shrinkage.
Visceral fat is also linked to various cancers, type two diabetes, heart attacks, increased risk of strokes and higher blood pressure.
The World Health Organisation has also declared obesity a worldwide epidemic, estimating that over half the global population will be overweight in the next decade.
