According to a new study from Northwestern Medicine, it has been revealed that obesity adversely affects women’s brain function and most importantly, the memory. Also, the adverse effect is more prominent in those women who have excess weight around their hips, identified as pear shapes, when compared to women who have excess weight around their waists identified as apple shapes.
Read on to know more about the research findings about how obesity adversely affects the elderly women’s memory.
The Study
It was conducted on 8,745 post-menopausal, cognitively normal women who belong to the age group of 65-79. This was done by the Women’s Health Initiative hormone trials.
Also, this study is the first in the U.S. which linked obesity to a poorer brain function and memory in women. This study also tried to identify the body-shape connection.
According to Diana Kerwin, the lead author, the imperative message is that a higher body mass (BMI) and obesity are not good for a woman’s memory and cognition. The additional body weight causes a detrimental effect on the women’s memory scores.
Scores of the study
A drop of one point in the memory was witnessed for each one point increase in the body mass index (BMI) of a woman. These women underwent a memory test known as the “Modified Mini-Mental Status Examination.” This test is a 100 point test.
The main reason for this detrimental effect is the form of fat deposited around the hip area rather than the waist area. Kerwin reportedly said that the effects of obesity worsens depending on where exactly the fat is located in the body.
The study is going to be published in the “Journal of the American Geriatric Society” on July 14.
