Obesity-related neurodegeneration resembles symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study by scientists from The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) at McGill University.
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The thinning of the right temporo-parietal cortex and the left prefrontal cortex is similar in both cases, this is what emerges from this study unveiled on Tuesday.
“This finding suggests that reducing excess weight may slow cognitive decline during aging, thereby reducing the risk of [la maladie d’Alzheimer]“, can we read in particular in the study.
Previous research had already demonstrated a link between obesity and changes due to Alzheimer’s disease, such as cerebrovascular damage and the accumulation of amyloid β plaques.
From a sample of more than 1300 people, the researchers this time established a parallel between the patterns of gray matter atrophy in obesity and in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). They thus compared AD patients and healthy controls, on the one hand, and obese people with non-obese people, on the other hand, by creating maps of gray matter atrophy for each group.
They found that obesity and Alzheimer’s disease caused a similar thinning of cortical gray matter.
“The thinning of the right temporoparietal cortex and the left prefrontal cortex was similar in both groups. This thinning often turns out to be a sign of neurodegeneration. Such a finding suggests that obesity might cause a type of neurodegeneration similar to that seen in people with [maladie d’Alzheimer].»
“Our study corroborates previous publications that consider obesity to be an important factor in AD, showing that cortical thinning might be one of the risk mechanisms,” said Filip Morys, postdoctoral fellow at The Neuro and lead author of The Neuro. ‘study.
For the researcher, these results demonstrate the importance of weight reduction in obese and overweight people during middle age, “in order to decrease the later risk of neurodegeneration and dementia”.
In numbers
- 597,000: the number of Canadians with a neurocognitive disorder in 2020;
- 955,900: the number of Canadians with a neurocognitive disorder in 2030;
Sources: Alzheimer Society of Canada.
