ANOTHER VIEW OF ALZHEIMER'S

The latest research report from the National Institutes of Health reveals that being overweight or obese at age fifty increases the risk that a person may develop Alzheimer’s disease in later years.  They’ve concluded that more midlife pounds translate to an earlier onset of the disease.

You may be certain that the research which went into this finding did not come cheaply.  You may be equally certain that the follow-up studies, which will survey hundreds of thousands of participants over a period of decades, while scrutinizing every aspect of human existence, will eventually run into the billions of dollars.  Fortunately, donations from nonprofit foundations together with government grants will ensure this vital program is fully funded.  You should understand that had the study encompassed such parochial matters as dementia or senility, it would never have gotten off the ground.  However, the magic word Alzheimer’s guarantees an unlimited budget.

In an analysis I conducted several years ago, I suggested that one possible cause of dementia might result from long-term deprivation of oxygen to the brain.  If this is the case, then middle-age weight gain can well be a factor.  As the body adds fat, two things happen.  First, the individual slows down, so that the circulatory system pumps less oxygen-carrying blood to all parts of the body.  Secondly, the accumulating fat is not restricted to the body’s mid-section; it also lines the walls of the blood vessels, specifically the two carotid arteries which transmit blood to the brain.  The effect of both actions: a long-term reduction of oxygen to the brain, accompanied by increased symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Is it possible the research studies to be undertaken might focus on the simple effect I’ve postulated?  Not a chance!  To conclude that so simple a factor as I’ve proposed could be accurate would destroy an entire research industry—and disrupt the cascade of dollars which then flow to the thousands of deserving beneficiaries.  No, the studies to be conducted will be as complex and imponderable as can be devised.  And the ultimate findings will merely raise further questions which can then be addressed only by further research . . . ad infinitum . . .ad infinitum.

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 In addition to this Straight Talk by Al Jacobs, I’m now generating a monthly Financial Newsletter.  It normally appears the first of each month and may be viewed on my website.  Click onto http://www.onthemoneytrail.net/