Obesity linked to Alzheimers

(NBC) - You've heard that being overweight puts you at risk for all kinds of health problems.  But a recent study links Obesity with memory loss.

The researchers at UCLA and the University of Pittsburgh say, as a result, being obese, or even overweight puts you at much higher risk for Alzheimer's.

Looking at the brain scans of overweight and obese people studied by researchers at UCLA and the University of Pittsburgh, when compared to the brain scans of normal weight subjects of similar age, the overweight and obese people showed brain tissue loss of four to eight percent more.

"So the obese people looked about 16 years older in terms of how their brain looked on the scan. And overweight people looked about 8 years older on average. They were more at risk for Alzheimer's." Prof. Paul Thompson UCLA Professor of Neurology said.

In fact, researchers called it "severe brain degeneration" especially in the areas that control multitasking, and memory.

Jinah Kim has more on this new study that sheds more light on the dangers of obesity and Alzheimer’s in this Internet Health Video Report.