Can fat affect the brain?

A new study from Boston, published in Annals of Neurology demonstrated an inverse correlation between abdominal fat, also known as visceral fat, and brain volume. Obviously, the lower the brain volume, the higher is the likelihood of dementia.
People with visceral obesity have higher risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol patterns and heart disease compared with people with generalized obesity. So it makes sense that these people are more prone to cerebrovascular disease, small strokes and eventually dementia. But the interesting observation in the study showed that the correlation remained after adjusting for those factors. Obesity is an inflammatory disease, fat is an inflammatory tissue and visceral obesity correlates with C-reactive protein levels. This may indicate a connection between body fat burden and the level of inflammation. When the adjustment was done for level of CRP the correlation wasn’t significant. So, maybe it’s the inflammation that is the provoking factor or the connection between the visceral obesity and dementia. Dr Zaven S. Khachaturian, PhD, of the Campaign to Prevent Alzheimer's Disease by 2020 and the former director of the office of Alzheimer's research at the National Institutes of Health, said in an interview the findings are preliminary because they "merely establish a correlation" between brain volume and obesity and not correlation. (adapted from MedPage)