The dynamic association between body mass index and cognition from midlife through late-life, and the effect of sex and genetic influences

AbstractBody mass index (BMI) is associated with cognitive abilities, but the nature of the relationship remains largely unexplored. We aimed to investigate the bidirectional relationship from midlife through late-life, while considering sex differences and genetic predisposition to higher BMI. We used data from 23,892 individuals of European ancestry from the Health and Retirement Study, with longitudinal data on BMI and three established cognitive indices: mental status, episodic memory, and their sum, called total cognition. To investigate the dynamic relationship between BMI and cognitive abilities, we applied dual change score models of change from age 50 through 89, with a breakpoint at age 65 or 70. Models were further stratified by sex and genetic predisposition to higher BMI using tertiles of a polygenic score for BMI (PGSBMI). We demonstrated bidirectional effects between BMI and all three cognitive indices, with higher BMI contributing to steeper decline in cognitive abilities in both midlife and late-life, and higher cognitive abilities contributing to less decline in BMI in late-life. The effects of BMI on change in cognitive abilities were more evident in men compared to women, and among those in the lowest tertile of the PGSBMI compared to those in the highest tertile, while the effects of cognition on BMI were similar across groups. In conclusion, these findings highlight a reciprocal relationship between BMI and cognitive abilities, indicating that the negative effects of a higher BMI persist from midlife through late-life, and that weight-loss in late-life may be driven by cognitive decline.

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The dynamic association between body mass index and cognition from midlife through late-life, and the effect of sex and genetic influences

10.21203/rs.3.rs-186197/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ida K Karlsson ◽

Margaret Gatz ◽

Thalida Em Arpawong ◽

Anna K Dahl Aslan ◽

Chandra A Reynolds

Keyword(s):

Body Mass Index ◽

Body Mass ◽

Genetic Predisposition ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Late Life ◽

Change Score ◽

Reciprocal Relationship ◽

European Ancestry ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Dynamic Relationship

Abstract Body mass index (BMI) is associated with cognitive abilities, but the nature of the relationship remains largely unexplored. We aimed to investigate the bidirectional relationship from midlife through late-life, while considering sex differences and genetic predisposition to higher BMI. We used data from 23,892 individuals of European ancestry from the Health and Retirement Study, with longitudinal data on BMI and three established cognitive indices: mental status, episodic memory, and their sum, called total cognition. To investigate the dynamic relationship between BMI and cognitive abilities, we applied dual change score models of change from age 50 through 89, with a breakpoint at age 65 or 70. Models were further stratified by sex and genetic predisposition to higher BMI using tertiles of a polygenic score for BMI (PGSBMI). We demonstrated bidirectional effects between BMI and all three cognitive indices, with higher BMI contributing to steeper decline in cognitive abilities in both midlife and late-life, and higher cognitive abilities contributing to less decline in BMI in late-life. The effects of BMI on change in cognitive abilities were more evident in men compared to women, and among those in the lowest tertile of the PGSBMI compared to those in the highest tertile, while the effects of cognition on BMI were similar across groups. In conclusion, these findings highlight a reciprocal relationship between BMI and cognitive abilities, indicating that the negative effects of a higher BMI persist from midlife through late-life, and that weight-loss in late-life may be driven by cognitive decline.

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Change in cognition and body mass index in relation to preclinical dementia

10.1101/2021.02.01.21250918 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ida K Karlsson ◽

Yiqiang Zhan ◽

Margaret Gatz ◽

Chandra A Reynolds ◽

Anna K Dahl Aslan

Keyword(s):

Body Mass Index ◽

Weight Loss ◽

Body Mass ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Change Score ◽

Buffering Effect ◽

Bidirectional Association ◽

Longitudinal Association ◽

Using Data ◽

Cognitively Intact

INTRODUCTION: To study if declining cognition drives weight loss in preclinical dementia, we examined the longitudinal association between body mass index (BMI) and cognitive abilities in those who did or did not later develop dementia. METHODS: Using data from individuals spanning age 50-89, we applied dual change score models separately in individuals who remained cognitively intact (n=1,498) and those who were diagnosed with dementia within five years of last assessment (n=459). RESULTS: Among the cognitively intact, there was a bidirectional association: stable BMI predicted stable cognition and vice versa. Among those subsequently diagnosed with dementia, the association was unidirectional: higher BMI predicted declining cognition, but cognition did not predict change in BMI. DISCUSSION: While BMI and cognition stabilized each other when cognitive functioning was intact, this buffering effect was missing in the preclinical dementia phase. This finding indicates that weight loss in preclinical dementia is not driven by declining cognition.

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TV or Not TV: Fat Is the Question

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.91.2.499 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 91 (2) ◽

pp. 499-501

Author(s):

WILLIAM H. DIETZ ◽

STEVEN L. GORTMAKER

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Body Mass Index ◽

Body Mass ◽

Adolescent Girls ◽

Television Viewing ◽

Physical Activities ◽

Reciprocal Relationship ◽

Seventh Grade ◽

Relationship Of

The manuscript entitled "Does television viewing increase obesity and reduce physical activity?" published by Robinson and coauthors in this issue of Pediatrics1 is a careful and well-written study of the effect of television viewing on adiposity and physical activity among sixth- and seventh-grade adolescent girls. In contrast to two other large studies of children,2,3 the authors failed to find a significant association between hours of television viewed and adiposity, measured by body mass index. Physical activity was weakly and inversely correlated to time spent viewing television. The latter observation is consistent with prior data which demonstrate a reciprocal relationship of fitness and television viewing,4 perhaps because television viewing displaces more vigorous physical activities.5

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Associations of Body Mass Index, Visceral Fat Area, Waist Circumference, and Waist-To-Hip Ratio with Cognitive Function in Western China: Results from A WCHAT Study

10.21203/rs.3.rs-154197/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Xiaolei Liu ◽

Xiaoyan Chen ◽

Lisha Hou ◽

Xin Xia ◽

Fengjuan Hu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Mass Index ◽

Waist Circumference ◽

Cognitive Performance ◽

Body Mass ◽

Visceral Fat ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Strong Association ◽

Western China ◽

Visceral Fat Area ◽

Waist To Hip Ratio

Abstract ObjectivesThis study examined the relationship between cognitive performance and obesity parameters, such as body mass index (BMI), visceral fat area (VFA), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) in western China.Study designA cross-sectional studyMethods3914 participants, aged >50 years, were recruited in this study. Anthropometrics measurements, life-style factors, chronic disease comorbidities, and sleep qualities were recorded for each participant. Among the anthropometrics, BMP, WC, and WHR were assessed using standard procedures, while VHA was calculated using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Cognitive performance was estimated using the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ). Finally, relationships between cognitive abilities and BMI, VFA, WC, and WHR were evaluated using univariate and multivariate regression analyses. ResultsCognitive decline (CD) occurred at a rate of 13.29% among the 3914 participants. A strong correlation was observed between cognitive abilities and BMI of male patients aged 50-59 yrs (OR 1.116,95% CI1.002-1.242), in the adjusted model. Alternately, WHR was shown to be significantly related to CD in females aged >70 years (OR 0.041, 95% CI0.002-0.671). WC was shown to have a strong association with CD in males (OR 1.023,95% CI1.003-1.024). Lastly, WHR was closely connected to CD in participants with BMI < 25 kg/m2 (OR 0.022,95% CI0.002-0.209).Conclusions Our findings suggest that a higher middle age BMI is associated with CD, whereas, in the elderly population, a higher WHR is related to improved cognitive performance. Further investigation is warranted to elucidate a relationship between VFA and CD.

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Risk factors mediating the effect of body-mass index and waist-to-hip ratio on cardiovascular outcomes: Mendelian randomization analysis

10.1101/2020.07.15.20154096 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Dipender Gill ◽

Verena Zuber ◽

Jesse Dawson ◽

Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard ◽

Alice R Carter ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Blood Pressure ◽

Cardiovascular Disease ◽

Body Mass Index ◽

Body Mass ◽

European Ancestry ◽

Standard Deviation Increase ◽

Waist To Hip Ratio ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Artery Disease

Background: Higher body-mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, but the extent to which this is mediated by blood pressure, diabetes, lipid traits and smoking is not fully understood. Methods: Using consortia and UK Biobank genetic association summary data from 140,595 to 898,130 participants predominantly of European ancestry, MR mediation analysis was performed to investigate the degree to which genetically predicted systolic blood pressure (SBP), diabetes, lipid traits and smoking mediated an effect of genetically predicted BMI and WHR on risk of coronary artery disease (CAD), peripheral artery disease (PAD) and stroke. Results: The 49% (95% confidence interval [CI] 39%-60%) increased risk of CAD conferred per 1-standard deviation increase in genetically predicted BMI attenuated to 34% (95% CI 24%-45%) after adjusting for genetically predicted SBP, to 27% (95% CI 17%-37%) after adjusting for genetically predicted diabetes, to 47% (95% CI 36%-59%) after adjusting for genetically predicted lipids, and to 46% (95% CI 34%-58%) after adjusting for genetically predicted smoking. Adjusting for all the mediators together, the increased risk attenuated to 14% (95% CI 4%-26%). A similar pattern of attenuation was observed when considering genetically predicted WHR as the exposure, and PAD or stroke as the outcomes. Conclusions: Measures to reduce obesity will lower risk of cardiovascular disease primarily by impacting on downstream metabolic risk factors, particularly diabetes and hypertension. Reduction of obesity prevalence alongside control and management of its mediators is likely to be most effective for minimizing the burden of obesity.

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Low-frequency coding variants associated with body-mass-index impact the success of bariatric surgery

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism ◽

10.1210/clinem/dgab774 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Darlène Antoine ◽

Rosa-Maria Guéant-Rodriguez ◽

Jean-Claude Chèvre ◽

Sébastien Hergalant ◽

Tanmay Sharma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bariatric Surgery ◽

Body Mass Index ◽

Morbid Obesity ◽

General Population ◽

Body Mass ◽

Intervention Program ◽

Low Frequency ◽

European Ancestry ◽

Frequency Coding ◽

Coding Variants

Abstract Context A recent study identified 14 low-frequency coding variants associated with body-mass-index (BMI) in 718,734 individuals predominantly of European ancestry. Objective and design The 14 low-frequency coding variants were genotyped or sequenced in 342 French adults with severe/morbid obesity and 574 French adult controls from the general population. We built risk and protective genetic scores (GS) based on 6 BMI-increasing and 5 BMI-decreasing low-frequency coding variants that were polymorphic in our study. We investigated the association of the two GS with i) the risk of severe/morbid obesity, ii) BMI variation before weight-loss intervention, iii) BMI change in response to an 18-month lifestyle/behavioral intervention program, and iv) BMI change up to 24 months after bariatric surgery. Results While the risk GS was not associated with severe/morbid obesity status, BMI-decreasing low-frequency coding variants were significantly less frequent in patients with severe/morbid obesity than in French adults from the general population. Neither the risk nor the protective GS was associated with BMI before intervention in patients with severe/morbid obesity, nor did they impact BMI change in response to a lifestyle/behavioral modification program. The protective GS was associated with a greater BMI decrease following bariatric surgery. The risk and protective GS were associated with a higher and lower risk of BMI regain after bariatric surgery. Conclusion Our data indicate that in populations of European descent, low-frequency coding variants associated with BMI in the general population also impact the outcomes of bariatric surgery in patients with severe/morbid obesity.

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