Obesity is a serious health concern all over the world and has become one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality. Deadly complications of obesity affect every organ of our body including brain. Research has proved that risk of stroke and Alzheimer’s disease (both are brain disorders) particularly increases in obese people. They suffer these two brain disorders more frequently than do people with normal body weight.

Alzheimer’s disease or senile dementia is a brain disorder in which patient loses recent and past memory. This diseases starts usually in seventh decade of life and worldwide incidence of Alzheimer’s disease is 1 in 85 people having age 65 years or more. Patient initially feels difficulty in recollecting recent events but as the disease progresses past memory is also lost. In severe disease patient experiences extreme difficulty in self-care and independent living. Obese people develop this condition pretty earlier and according to research patients who are severely obese develop Alzheimer’s disease 10-18 year earlier than people with normal weight. Body mass index is closely related to this risk so, severer the obesity, more risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Several studies support the relationship between obesity and Alzheimer’s disease. Brain shrinkage is believed to be the principal factor in earlier development of Alzheimer’s disease in obese people. Neurons in important areas of brain which are concerned with memory and learning (for example Hippocampus) are damaged. Brain mapping studies show that obese people lose more brain tissue with advancing age than people with normal weight. How this brain shrinkage occurs in obesity, is explained in following ways:

1. Increased body fats/ fat cells release some inflammatory chemical called cytokines which cause cell death in different brain parts especially in areas which are concerned with memory. When neurons are damaged in these areas, memory loss occurs and Alzheimer’s disease results.
2. Beta amyloid protein (which is present excessively in brain cells of patients having Alzheimer’s disease), increases in brain tissue of severely obese people. This increases chance of brain shrinkage and Alzheimer’s disease in obese people.
3. Role of obesity in Alzheimer’s disease is also supported by the presence of FTO gene. FTO gene is related to body fats and increases body mass index. People who have this gene are at greater risk of brain shrinkage and Alzheimer’s disease. In one study 1000 Swedish people of age 75 years were followed for nine years to determine the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. It was found that persons who had FTO gene were at 58% more risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Fortunately Alzheimer’s disease develops slowly and its symptoms appear only if obesity remains for long time. This fact is very important for prevention of Alzheimer’s disease in obesity. If obese people lose weight quickly, the risk of Alzheimer’s can be reduced. Research has found that losing weight improves mental slowing and memory in obese people. The key to success is losing weight as early as possible otherwise; it will be of little help if brain shrinkage has already occurred.

Weight loss can be achieved by adopting different measures. Dieting and exercises are helpful measures in mild to moderate obesity but they alone are in-effective in severe obesity. In severe obesity weight-loss surgery along with dieting and exercise, is the only effective measure that has no failure in bringing the desired results. Weight loss surgery or bariatric surgery loses weight quickly and reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease significantly. American college of surgeons only recommends dedicated bariatric surgery hospitals for safe and effective bariatric surgery procedures. Surgery centers that lack many of the facilities for bariatric surgery should never be selected for this vital surgery.

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