Weight loss in old age can be an early sign of the development of senile dementia. This conclusion was reached by the staff of the University of South Florida (USA), reports the BBC. The study conducted by them confirmed that the risk of dementia is especially high if a person was overweight or obese, but began to lose weight sharply in old age. The study lasted eight years, it was attended by 1,836 Americans of Japanese origin.

As the results of the work showed, subjects who had a low body mass index at the time of the beginning of the study, 79% more often than full participants subsequently acquired dementia.

And those who lost weight faster than others during the observation, dementia developed three times more often than those who lost weight slowly.

According to the authors of the study, these data suggest that weight loss in the elderly may be the first physical change that has occurred under the influence of dementia before the disease affects the memory. However, one should not think that overweight and obesity can protect against dementia: earlier experts have proved that excess fat at the waist in middle age increases the risk of dementia in old age.

sportzal. com.