'Healthy' Obesity, Low chance of developing Alzheimer's disease
Nov 11, 2024
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A joint research team led by Professor Kang Sung-hoon of the Department of Neurology at Korea University Guro Hospital (Professor Kang Sung-hoon of Department of Neurology at Korea University Guro Hospital and Professor Seo Sang-won of Department of Neurology at Samsung Seoul Hospital) revealed the effect of weight and metabolic syndrome on the accumulation and progression of Alzheimer's disease.
Previously, the relationship between weight and Alzheimer's disease markers was well known, but no studies have confirmed the effect on Alzheimer's disease markers by considering metabolic syndrome that is closely related to obesity.
Professor Kang's research team classified 1,736 Koreans aged 45 or older without dementia into underweight (BMI less than 18.5kg/㎡), normal weight, and obese groups (BMI more than 25kg/㎡) according to the body mass index (BMI) to determine the effect of weight status on Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia brain imaging biomarkers depending on metabolic syndrome and to analyze the effect of relevance on cognitive decline. In addition, each group was further subdivided into a metabolic health group and a metabolic syndrome group according to metabolic syndrome criteria, and their amyloid PET, brain MRI, and cognitive function test results were analyzed. The metabolic health group defined the case of having one or less diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, high fasting blood sugar, high neutral fat, and low HDL cholesterol), excluding waist circumference criteria.
As a result, the positive rate of amyloid beta protein, which shows the risk of amyloid accumulation, a causative agent of Alzheimer's disease, was high (73.9%) in the underweight group and rather low (37.0%) in the obese group, indicating that obesity lowers amyloid accumulation. Furthermore, when subdivided according to metabolic syndrome, the positive rates of amyloid beta protein in the metabolic health obesity group and the metabolic syndrome obesity group were 29.6% and 42.5%, respectively, showing that obesity prevents amyloid accumulation only when metabolically healthy. The metabolic health obesity group had a thick hippocampal volume, a high cognitive function score, and the slowest rate of cognitive decline when followed up in the long run.
Professor Kang Sung-hoon of the Department of Neurology at Korea University Guro Hospital said, "This study confirmed that the presence or absence of metabolic syndrome affects the relationship between weight and Alzheimer's markers. Considering that weight and metabolic syndrome can be corrected through diet, exercise, and medication, we expect the findings to contribute to preventing Alzheimer's disease-related dementia by maintaining metabolic health and maintaining proper weight."
In addition, Professor Kang, who heads the Alzheimer's Prevention Center, which was recently opened by Korea University Guro Hospital, said "Based on the results of this study, we expect to maximize the therapeutic effect of new drugs for preventing Alzheimer's disease introduced in Korea at the end of this year by accompanying proper lifestyle correction."
Meanwhile, this research paper 'Different associations between body mass index and Alzheimer's markers depending on metabolic health' was published in the recent issue of the famous Alzheimer's disease journal 'Alzheimer's Research & Therapy'.
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