San Diego: A fat middle may raise the risk of Alzheimer’s, say doctors.

A new study looked at 9,000 men and women whose fat levels were monitored in early middle-age. During the next 23 years, 221 cases of Alzheimer’s were diagnosed mostly in those who were overweight with higher levels of at around the trunk.

The research took into account other Alzheimer’s factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and high cholsterol but concluded that fat around the middle was the most likely predictor of dementia.

Dr Rachel Whitmer from the Kaiser Permanent Foundation Research Institute in California told the American Academy of Neurology in San Diego that even a person of normal weight who was carrying more fat around the trunk was at risk.

The team now plan to test whether weight loss can reduce the risk of demantia and Alzheimer’s.