Weight Loss Is a Strong Predictor of Memory Disorder Independent of Genetic Influences.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Past studies identified a link between weight loss and dementia, but lacked consistent conclusions. We sought to establish this link by examining the weight change profiles before and after dementia diagnosis.

Methods

Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (1996-2020), we examined 13,123 participants. We conducted a nested case-control analysis to assess differences in biennial weight change profile while controlling for BMI, longevity polygenic risk scores, and APOE gene variants.

Results

Participants with a memory disorder lost weight (-0.63%) biennially, whereas those without a diagnosis did not (+0.013%, p-value < 0.0001). Our case-control study shows a significant difference (p-value < 0.01) in pre-dementia % weight change

SUBMITTER: Chen S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10454755 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature