Obesity phenotypes in midlife and cognition in early old age. The Whitehall II cohort study

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.

Abstract

'...in the metabolically abnormal group, the decline on the global score (measuring cognition) was faster among obese... than among normal weight individuals.'

Main

Singh-Manoux A, Czernichow S et al. Neurol 2012; 79: 755–762

These investigators make a distinction between subjects who were obese but had an otherwise healthy metabolic profile, and those who were obese but were metabolically abnormal (with, for example, hypertension or diabetes). This study interrogated data from the Whitehall II cohort. This group comprised over ten thousand British civil servants. On three occasions over a ten-year period, three cognitive tests were performed. Future decline in cognition was faster in individuals who were obese and metabolically abnormal than for those who were obese but had normal metabolism, and those who were of normal weight. Dentists may have a role in identifying subjects who are obese but, as with other screens for medical conditions, may pose some an ethical dilemma (DOI: 10.1038/sj.bdj.2012.996).