MINNEAPOLIS, March 27, 2008—"Belly fat" put on by middle age may be connected to later onset of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in Neurology.

The report suggests that abdominal fat out on by one's 40s is a bigger risk factor than family history.  And it applies only to abdominal fat, not to fat in the thighs or elsewhere on the body.

The study of 6,583 adults found that people with a lot of belly fat between the ages of 40 and 45 were about three times more likely to develop dementia than those with little abdominal fat.

People with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's face only twice the risk of developing the disease.

Previous research has shown that people with large abdomens face a greater chance of diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

Participants in the study were members of Kaiser Permanente of northern California who had their belly fat measured between 1964 and 1973.

Clinicians measured high belly fat using a caliper around the person's middle. A person had high belly fat if the distance between the two caliper points -- the subject's diameter -- was more than 25 centimeters, or 9.8 inches.

An average of 36 years later, 16 percent of all subjects had been found to have dementia.

People who were obese -- with a BMI of greater than 30 -- and had a large belly in middle age were 3.6 times more likely to develop dementia later in life than those whose weight and belly size had been in the healthy range.

Star Tribune wire story