Examining if being overweight really confers protection against dementia: Sixty-four year follow-up of participants in the Glasgow University alumni cohort study.
BACKGROUND
Recent large-scale studies suggest that obesity and overweight may confer protection against future dementia. This observation could, however, be generated by reverse causality. That is, weight loss in the incipient phase of dementia ascribed to diminished self-care, including sub-optimal nutrition, would have the effect of generating such an inverse association. One approach to circumventing this problem would be to measure weight in a population which is young enough to be free of the symptoms of dementia which is then followed up for dementia occurrence over many decades.


METHODS
In a prospective cohort study, body mass index, and other potential risk factors, were measured in 9547 male university undergraduates (mean age 20.5 years) in 1948-68 who were then linked to national mortality registers.


RESULTS
Of 2537 deaths over a mean of 50.6 years follow up, 140 were ascribed to dementia. There was no association between overweight and future dementia deaths (age-adjusted hazard ratio; 95 % confidence interval: 0.93; 0.49, 1.79).


CONCLUSIONS
In this cohort study of former university students, being overweight in youth did not confer protection against later dementia death.
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College, London, UK. david.batty@ucl.ac.uk.|Centre for Cognitive Ageing & Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. david.batty@ucl.ac.uk.|Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. david.batty@ucl.ac.uk.
G David
GD
Batty
School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Bruna
B
Galobardes
Centre for Cognitive Ageing & Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.|Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
John M
JM
Starr
School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Mona
M
Jeffreys
School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
George
G
Davey Smith
Centre for Cognitive Ageing & Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.|Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.|Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Tom C
TC
Russ
D015331:Cohort Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012606:Scotland / Q000453:epidemiology; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
Cohort; Dementia; Epidemiology; Life course; Obesity; Overweight; Risk factors