Washington-If you have a big tummy in middle age it may greatly increase your risk of developing forms of dementia including Alzheimer’s disease after few decades,scientists reported on Wednesday.

The researchers followed around 6,583 individuals in northern California for about 36 years in an average,starting when their ages ranged from 40 to 45.The researchers measured the belly size of the persons at the beginning of the study.

A sum of around 1,049 of the people which is close to 16 % of the total participants had developed Alzheimer’s disease or any other type of dementia as they attained their 70s. Individuals in the top 20% with respect to abdomen size in 40s were about 3 times more probable to develop dementia when compared to individuals in the bottom 20 % of tummy size,the researchers found out.

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Washington - A projected 5.2 million people in the US have Alzheimer’s disease and it might affect 1 out of 8 baby boomers, the Alzheimer’s Association reported on Tuesday.
The study found out that there were about 411,000 new cases of the disease in the year 2000 and the figure is expected to rise about 454,000 new cases every year by 2010.

The report predicts that by 2050, around 959,000 persons will be identified with the disease every year.The report says that 14 % (which includes16 % of women and 11 % of men) of the people in the age group of 71 and above have dementia.

The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease and it accounts for around 60 to 80 % of the cases.The disease begins with mild loss of memory and confusion but turns into total memory loss and inability to care for oneself. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. A few drugs that are used to treat Alzheimer’s disease can only slow down its advancement for a short time. (more…)