title: Late-life body mass index and dementia incidence: nine-year follow-up data from the Kungsholmen Project.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the association between late-life body mass index (BMI) and dementia development with a time perspective and to investigate the effect of weight changes on dementia incidence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three-, 6-, and 9-year follow-up study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Kungsholmen Project.
  
  
  METHODS
  One thousand two hundred fifty-five subjects aged 75 and older with baseline BMI data available.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cox-regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for dementia detected at different risk periods in relation to baseline BMI. The association between BMI changes and development of dementia after 3 and 6 years was also analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subjects with a BMI of 25.0 kg/m2 or higher had a lower risk of developing dementia than subjects with a BMI of 20.0 to 24.9 (HR=0.75, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.59-0.96), even when cases occurring only during the last follow-up period (6-9 years after BMI assessment) were included (HR=0.66. 95% CI=0.40-1.07). Severe BMI loss (>10%) was related to a greater risk of dementia, but this association was present only for dementia cases detected in the subsequent 3 years (HR=2.18, 95% CI=1.27-3.74).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study does not confirm that being overweight in late life is a risk factor for dementia, although a protective effect for a BMI greater than 25.0 is suggested. In addition, BMI loss is confirmed as a marker of incipient dementia. The findings suggest that, from a clinical perspective, the cognitive profile of elderly persons with unexplained weight loss should be considered and that being moderately overweight at older ages might be indicative of good health status.
authors.affiliation: Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm Gerontology Research Center, Stockholm, Sweden. anna.rita.atti@ki.se
authors.forename: Anna Rita
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Atti
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Volpato
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Winblad
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Ronchi
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fratiglioni
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors