Overeating May Be Passport to Mild Cognitive Impairment

When older people overeat, it may double their risk of mild cognitive impairment, Ronald Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., director of the  Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the Mayo Clinic, and his colleagues have found. Their study involved  some 1,200 people aged 70 to 89. Although none had Alzheimer's, 163 did have mild cognitive impairment, which is often a prelude to Alzheimer's. The subjects were evaluated for how much they ate, and the researchers then determined whether there was any link between excessive food intake and mild cognitive impairment, even when other factors that can affect memory loss were considered. The odds of having mild cognitive impairment more than doubled for those in the highest calorie-consuming group compared with those in the lowest one.

The study results will  be reported at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in New Orleans in April.

More information about research related to mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease is reported in Psychiatric News and in the new book from American Psychiatric Publishing, Clinical Manual of Alzheimer Disease and Other Dementias.

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