Have Another Donut for Your Brain's Sake

Being fat in middle age reduces risk of developing dementia, researchers say

Choices! I'll take the two at the top.

A surprising study contradicting all previous research found that being fat in middle age appears to cut the risk of developing dementia rather than increase it, the Lancet scientific journal has reported.

A study of two million people found that the underweight were far more likely to develop dementia, a growing problem among the elderly in the Western world.

Maybe just one more!

Just because there are more of them us than ever before.

Underweight people had a 34 percent higher risk of developing dementia than those of a normal weight, the study found, while the very obese had a 29 percent lower risk of becoming forgetful and confused and showing other signs of senility.

Those are pretty substantial statistics.

. . . the new research “overshadows those (previous studies) by orders of magnitude,” said Nawab Qizilbash of Oxon Epidemiology, who led the study. “We show completely the opposite,” Qizilbash said, as quoted by the Times of London.

Patients were an average 55 years old and 45,507 of them developed dementia over an average of nine years. The risk of dementia fell steadily as their weight rose, the researchers found.

Qizilbash, as quoted in the Times, said the findings held despite attempts to adjust it for other causes of dementia and the tendency of obese people to die earlier.

“We did

So do you want to be one of those well rounded old folks with their brains intact, or one the skinny, demented ones, yelling about everything? The choice is yours. Have a donut while you work your crossword puzzle.

Over at The Other McCain Rule 5 Sunday became "Late Night With Rule 5 Monday."