Association between Obesity and Cognitive Functional Loss: A Short Review
Author(s): Sridevi G*
Abstract
Obesity has been identified as a common health problem and is a major global alarm in today’s world. A major cause of obesity are changes in lifestyle of families concerning eating habits, lack of physical activity and increased exposure to video games, engaging in social media, and computers have played a noteworthy role in enhancing obesity. Although obesity poses many problems like hyperlipidemia, hypertension and diabetes, dementia and cognitive impairment also seems to be associated with it. There is a growing body of research that has been investigating the relationship between obesity and cognitive impairment, but the results are conflicting in different study populations. Research reports have identified that abdominal obesity is mostly associated with a greater risk of loss of cognitive functions independent of factors like sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health-related comorbid. Possible explanations are excessive accumulation of dietary saturated fats may induce changes in the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, which may consequently allow toxins to enter the brain and directly or indirectly impact the hippocampus. Another explanation is that obesity has an impact on the brain and its blood vessels supplying it. Thereby it promotes atherosclerosis resulting in the development of vascular cognitive impairment. Thus, Aerobic fitness appears to have a positive effect on cognition. The effect of increased physical activity on cognitive function appears to be clearer, resulting in increased gray matter, blood volume and circulation in the hippocampus.