Factors that place fat around the waist (insulin resistance) and the activity of that fat tissue (production of signaling molecules that promote inflammation) are both at play behind the connection documented recently in this paper published in the journal Neurology. The authors found that “…a midlife WHR [waist hip ratio] greater than 0.80 increased risk for dementia approximately twofold…,” and conclude: “There are midlife and late-life implications for dementia prevention, and analytical considerations related to identifying risk factors for dementia.” Here are a few more papers related to the same finding:

1. Research on diabetes, hyperinsulinemia and dementia in Dementia and Geriatric Disorders
2. A paper on abdominal obesity and Alzheimer Disease published in the same journal
3. A study in Archives of Neurology that concludes: “A larger WHR may be related to neurodegenerative, vascular, or metabolic processes that affect brain structures underlying cognitive decline and dementia.”