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Tuesday, September 27, 2005Loss of body mass over time appears to be strongly linked to older adults' risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), according to a study published in the September 27 issue of Neurology. The greater the loss, the greater the chance of a person developing the disease, the researchers report. The findings are the first to associate decline in body mass index (BMI) with the eventual onset of AD. The loss of body mass may reflect disease processes at work, the researchers suggest, and the change in BMI might be a clinical predictor of the development of AD. But here's the study: Methods: Nine hundred eighteen older Catholic clergy participating in the Religious Orders Study without dementia at baseline were studied. Outcome measures were the clinical diagnosis of AD(Alzheimer's Dementia -ed.) and change in cognitive function. Results: During a mean follow-up of 5.5 years, 151 persons developed AD. BMI averaged 27.4 at baseline and declined in about half the participants. In a proportional hazards model adjusted for age, sex, and education, each 1-unit less of BMI at baseline was associated with about a 5% increase in the risk of AD. So, 1/2 of the subjects lost weight during the study, but only 1/6 of them developed Alzheimer's dementia. Seems like a pretty soft indicator. UPDATE: A reader's second opinion: The Alzheimer's study may be more significant than it appears. For instance, what about the half of participants who didn't lose weight. If they were nearly Alzheimers-free then that is quite significant, but we can't tell that from the abstract. It's a big study and the hazard ratios are significant. Just remember, the absence of a variable with the absence of disease is just as important as the presence of a variable with the presence of disease. posted by Sydney on 9/27/2005 09:38:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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