Obesity 'bad for brain' by hastening cognitive decline

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19323061


Being overweight is not just bad for waistlines but for brains too, say researchers who have linked obesity to declining mental performance.

Experts are not sure why this might be, but say metabolic changes such as high blood sugar and raised cholesterol are likely to be involved.

Obesity has already been tipped as a risk factor for dementia.

The work, published in Neurology, tracked the health of more than 6,000 British people over a decade.

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1. Hypertension and poor glucose control, it all fits.

http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/early/2012/05/21/HYPERTENSIONAHA.112.195511
This is the first study demonstrating that a chronic vascular insult can activate brain vascular RAGE, favoring parenchymal Aβ deposition and the onset of cognitive deterioration. Overall we demonstrate that RAGE activation in brain vessels is a crucial pathogenetic event in hypertension-induced Alzheimer disease, suggesting that inhibiting this target can limit the onset of vascular-related Alzheimer disease


http://archneur.jamanetwork.com/mobile/article.aspx?articleid=1183076
Conclusion Among well-functioning older adults, DM and poor glucose control among those with DM are associated with worse cognitive function and greater decline. This suggests that severity of DM may contribute to accelerated cognitive aging.