The Brain-Belly Connection
Midjourney
Heavy News: Maintaining a healthy weight can lower the risk of a number of chronic illnesses, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. It’s also good for your brain. New research shows that having too much body fat might play a direct role in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
The Study: Previous research identified a link between obesity and dementia, but the exact mechanism and the role of fat weren’t clear. Scientists from Houston Medical collected subcutaneous and visceral belly fat from both obese and lean people getting elective abdominal surgery. The researchers focused on extracellular vesicles (EVs) — tiny particles released by fat tissue that carry fats and other molecules around the body.
The Takeaway: These EVs can cross the blood-brain barrier and signal the brain to form amyloid-β plaques — a distinctive, harmful feature of Alzheimer’s. The EVs collected from the participants with obesity sent out a different mix of fats from the ones in the non-obese participants. These different fats in the obese participants appeared to speed up plaque formation.
Keep In Mind: More research is needed, but future studies may focus on how drugs or other treatments can disrupt these EV signals to lower Alzheimer’s risk in obese people.
