Are Hispanics At Greater Risk For Dementia? Study Finds Weight Linked With Memory Loss

A recent study has made a troubling association between dementia and being overweight. According to researchers from Oxford University, being overweight in your 30s can triple your likelihood of dementia later on. Specifically, the researchers were able to identify the difference in brain skills when individuals are overweight during varied ages.

The study, published online in the Postgraduate Medical Journal, looked at over half a million English hospital patients to find that those who were obese in their 40s saw their risk plummet to 70 percent, subjects in their 50s saw the extra risk fall to 50 percent, and so forth.

"Despite the study limitations, there is nonetheless an age effect that is striking and consistent with other studies," said Professor Michael Goldacre to DailyMail. "It cannot be lightly ignored, given the prevalence and importance of both obesity and dementia."

While this study was not done exclusively on Hispanic patients, the findings are an indicator to a potential public health problem that the community may face. According to findings from Arizona State University, Hispanics in the U.S. have high obesity rates, with an estimated 55 percent qualifying to fit in that category.

"The finding that people who are obese in their 30s are three times more likely to get dementia is striking, but it is difficult to draw firm conclusions from a study where only 19 of the 451,232 people observed were obese in their 30s and went on to develop dementia," said Dr. Clare Walton of Alzheimer's Society charity to Mail Online. "Given the growing body of evidence that being overweight in mid-life rather than in later years seems to be the bigger risk factor for dementia, it is never too early to start making healthy lifestyle choices."