Fat People Lose Their Thinking Skills Faster Than Thin People

[FarCenter]

Their study was based on almost 6,500 Whitehall civil servants, whose health was monitored between the ages of 50 and 60.

They were weighed and measured, their blood pressure and cholesterol levels were taken, and they were also asked what medication they were taking.

In addition, they were asked to perform mental tests three times during the decade, which were used to assess memory and other cognitive skills.

...

The researchers found the obese tended to lose their mental powers faster than their thinner colleagues, while those who also had additional conditions lost their memory and thinking skills fastest of all. The latter group experienced a 22.5 percent faster decline on their cognitive test scores over the decade than those who were healthy.

Archana Singh-Manoux, of the Paris research institute Inserm, who contributed to the study, said their results indicated the idea that people could be obese but still healthy was flawed.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/obese-people-lose-their-thinking-skills-faster-than-thin-people-2012-8

[Hey Jude]

1. Oh sure, Well I think......wait a sec, lost my train of thought......

Never mind.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. doesn't link to the study or even name the paper

I guess we'll just have to take their word for it.

[FarCenter]

4. Obesity in Middle Age Tied to More Rapid Mental Decline: Study

"The prevalence of obesity is rising; 400 million adults were obese in 2005 and this number is expected to rise to over 700 million by 2015," said lead researcher Archana Singh-Manoux, research director of the Center for Research in Epidemiology & Population Health at INSERM, in Paris.

...

For the new findings, researchers followed more than 6,400 people aged 39 to 63 for 10 years. At the start of the study, they recorded patients' risk factors, including weight.

During the follow-up decade, participants also took tests on memory, reasoning and overall mental function at three intervals, according to the report published in the Aug. 21 issue of the journal Neurology.

People with metabolic syndrome who were also obese saw a more rapid decline -- 22.5 percent faster -- in their mental function than those who weren't obese and didn't suffer from the syndrome.

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/08/20/obesity-in-middle-age-tied-to-more-rapid-mental-decline-study

Obesity phenotypes in midlife and cognition in early old age

The Whitehall II cohort study

Archana Singh-Manoux, PhD,
Sébastien Czernichow, MD, PhD,
Alexis Elbaz, MD, PhD,
Aline Dugravot, MSc,
Séverine Sabia, PhD,
Gareth Hagger-Johnson, PhD,
Sara Kaffashian, MSc,
Marie Zins, MD, PhD,
Eric J. Brunner, PhD,
Hermann Nabi, PhD and
Mika Kivimäki, PhD

http://www.neurology.org/content/79/8/755

[treestar]

3. Oh well the age discrimination is already there

So it won't matter anyway.

[Mac1949]

5. I don't buy it.

For one thing, I'd have more confidence in the results if they examined a wider cross-section of the populace. All that can be claimed for this is that obese civil servants lose their thinking skills faster as they age. And I have to wonder if the most obese civil servants were the ones most dissatisfied with their jobs, which would also skew the results. I'd like to see a confirmatory study before I'd take it as proven.

[justabob]

6. mental tests 3 times in 10 years?

That isn't enough to show anything. Who knows what was going on for people on any given test day. I would think a lot more information is needed to draw any kind of conclusion... Multiple tests a year over ten years, at least.