BBC News - Middle age weight link to dementia risk
if there's one disease I really don't want that's dementia.
if there's one disease I really don't want that's dementia.
middle aged, overweight greater risk of dementia later on
- Thread starter fortyfour
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San2
Mod
Yet another 'disease' linked to obesity.
While I do believe that there might be a connection, it's noteworthy that such 'connections' always seem to be discovered when the condition in question (obesity, alcohol abuse, smoking) is flavour of the month.
When they tried to get everybody to stop smoking, 'studies' about connections between smoking and every illness known to man were popping up left, right and centre. Now it's obesity which is being held responsible for everything that can possibly go wrong.
Don't get me wrong - obesity is not good, and it's in everybody's best interest to lose weight and get healthy. I just think that scaring people into trying to lose weight might not be the best way to go.
While I do believe that there might be a connection, it's noteworthy that such 'connections' always seem to be discovered when the condition in question (obesity, alcohol abuse, smoking) is flavour of the month.
When they tried to get everybody to stop smoking, 'studies' about connections between smoking and every illness known to man were popping up left, right and centre. Now it's obesity which is being held responsible for everything that can possibly go wrong.
Don't get me wrong - obesity is not good, and it's in everybody's best interest to lose weight and get healthy. I just think that scaring people into trying to lose weight might not be the best way to go.
San2
Mod
Dementia is a syndrome, a symptom of other illnesses, not a stand-alone disease. That alone makes me rather wary of what the study says.
I am rather doubtful about the numbers as well, plus it seems an isolated study, so those people can very well have other conditions that attributed to developing dementia. Dementia is almost always a result of a neurodegenerative disease (unless it is caused by brain trauma), so to see it linked so directly and with such high numbers to being overweight seems a bit off to me.
I am rather doubtful about the numbers as well, plus it seems an isolated study, so those people can very well have other conditions that attributed to developing dementia. Dementia is almost always a result of a neurodegenerative disease (unless it is caused by brain trauma), so to see it linked so directly and with such high numbers to being overweight seems a bit off to me.
Seems to me you are both just being defensive.
They didn't go into the details but perhaps there is something pretty logical about it.
And of course its natural that everything being linked to obesity would come out now. They are doing a lot more research on it. Just as in the past they did a lot of research about the health risks of smoking. Now that' pretty much been taken care of.
I'm not going to read the article again but the way i read what they had to say about 20% didn't seem over the top to me. It doesn't say 20% of people who are overweight will suffer form dementia, now does it?
I don't think its surprising that there should be myriad diseases related to obesity since obesity is not the natural or ideal state of the body, ie the body is not designed to carry such excess weight. So it stands to reason, if the body is being pushed out of its comfort zone, something's going to give.
They didn't go into the details but perhaps there is something pretty logical about it.
And of course its natural that everything being linked to obesity would come out now. They are doing a lot more research on it. Just as in the past they did a lot of research about the health risks of smoking. Now that' pretty much been taken care of.
I'm not going to read the article again but the way i read what they had to say about 20% didn't seem over the top to me. It doesn't say 20% of people who are overweight will suffer form dementia, now does it?
I don't think its surprising that there should be myriad diseases related to obesity since obesity is not the natural or ideal state of the body, ie the body is not designed to carry such excess weight. So it stands to reason, if the body is being pushed out of its comfort zone, something's going to give.
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San i haven't heard this before. What other diseases is it a symptom of. The only one i know is high blood pressure but that is when the person doesn't take their medicine. Cause this happened to a friend of ours.
What other diseases is it related to?
One of my uncles had dementia but i wasn't aware of him having any other diseases.
San2
Mod
Not defensive, just critical.
20%? Not sure where that number comes from. Here's a quote from the article I read after following your link:
Those are the numbers that are throwing me off. Plus the fact that they are using BMI as basis for the their studies - BMI is vague at best, and not suitable to base ANYTHING on.
As for other illnesses it is a symptom of, the first one is Senility, also known as senile dementia. If your uncle is elderly, then that is most likely what he is suffering from. Other illnesses that can (but don't neccessarily have to) cause dementia are Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, Niemann-Pick disease, Tay-Sachs disease, Wilson's disease, Gaucher's disease, Creutzfeld Jacob's disease and some others.
It can also be caused, in extreme cases, by encephalitis and even hyperthyroidism, and strokes can trigger dementia as well. And that's just a few from the top of my head, I'm sure even a quick check on wikipedia or something similar would give you a more comprehensive list.
20%? Not sure where that number comes from. Here's a quote from the article I read after following your link:
Those are the numbers that are throwing me off. Plus the fact that they are using BMI as basis for the their studies - BMI is vague at best, and not suitable to base ANYTHING on.
As for other illnesses it is a symptom of, the first one is Senility, also known as senile dementia. If your uncle is elderly, then that is most likely what he is suffering from. Other illnesses that can (but don't neccessarily have to) cause dementia are Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, Niemann-Pick disease, Tay-Sachs disease, Wilson's disease, Gaucher's disease, Creutzfeld Jacob's disease and some others.
It can also be caused, in extreme cases, by encephalitis and even hyperthyroidism, and strokes can trigger dementia as well. And that's just a few from the top of my head, I'm sure even a quick check on wikipedia or something similar would give you a more comprehensive list.
