Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Review
  • Published:

Evaluation of the influence of metabolic processes and body composition on cognitive functions: Nutrition and Dementia Project (NutrDem Project)

Abstract

The global increase in the prevalence of dementia and its associated comorbidities and consequences has stimulated intensive research focused on better understanding of the basic mechanisms and the possibilities to prevent and/or treat cognitive decline or dementia. The etiology of cognitive decline and dementia is very complex and is based upon the interplay of genetic and environmental factors. A growing body of epidemiological evidence has suggested that metabolic syndrome and its components may be important in the development of cognitive decline. Furthermore, an abnormal body mass index in middle age has been considered as a predictor for the development of dementia. The Nutrition and Dementia Project (NutrDem Project) was started at the Department of Old Age Psychiatry and Psychotic Disorders with close cooperation with Department of Medical Psychology. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of dietary patterns, nutritional status, body composition (with evaluation of visceral fat) and basic regulatory mechanisms of metabolism in elderly patients on cognitive functions and the risk of cognitive impairment (mild cognitive impairment and/or dementia).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Solomon A, Mangialasche F, Richard E, Andrieu S, Bennett DA, Breteler M et al. Advances in the prevention of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. J Intern Med 2014; 275: 229–250.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Frisardi V, Solfrizzi V, Seripa D, Capurso C, Santamato A, Sancarlo D et al. Metabolic-cognitive syndrome: a cross-talk between metabolic syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease. Ageing Res Rev 2010; 9: 399–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Vignini A, Giulietti A, Nanetti L, Raffaelli F, Giusti L, Mazzanti L et al. Alzheimer's disease and diabetes: new insights and unifying therapies. Curr Diabetes Rev 2013; 9: 218–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Gustafson DR, Bäckman K, Joas E, Waern M, Östling S, Guo X et al. 37 years of body mass index and dementia: observations from the prospective population study of women in Gothenburg, Sweden. J Alzheimers Dis 2012; 28: 163–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Atti AR, Palmer K, Volpato S, Winblad B, De Ronchi D, Fratiglioni L et al. Late-life body mass index and dementia incidence: nine-year follow-up data from the Kungsholmen Project. J Am Geriatr Soc 2008; 56: 111–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Tolppanen AM, Ngandu T, Kåreholt I, Laatikainen T, Rusanen M, Soininen H et al. Midlife and late-life body mass index and late-life dementia: results from a prospective population-based cohort. J Alzheimers Dis 2014; 38: 201–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Whitmer RA, Gunderson EP, Barrett-Connor E, Quesenberry Jr CP, Yaffe K . Obesity in middle age and future risk of dementia: a 27 year longitudinal population based study. BMJ 2005; 330: 1360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Anstey KJ, Cherbuin N, Budge M, Young J . Body mass index in midlife and late-life as a risk factor for dementia: a meta-analysis of prospective studies. Obes Rev 2011; 12: e426–e437.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Dahl AK, Lopponen M, Isoaho R, Berg S, Kivela SL . Overweight and obesity in old age are not associated with greater dementia risk. J Am Geriatr Soc 2008; 56: 2261–2266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Power BD, Alfonso H, Flicker L, Hankey GJ, Yeap BB, Almeida OP et al. Body adiposity in later life and the incidence of dementia: the health in men study. PLoS One 2011; 6: e17902.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Power BD, Alfonso H, Flicker L, Hankey GJ, Yeap BB, Almeida OP et al. Changes in body mass in later life and incident dementia. Int Psychogeriatr 2013; 25: 467–478.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Hughes TF, Borenstein AR, Schofield E, Wu Y, Larson EB . Association between late-life body mass index and dementia: The Kame Project. Neurology 2009; 72: 1741–1746.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Kim HJ, Oh ES, Lee JH, Moon JS, Oh JE, Shin JW et al. Relationship between changes of body mass index (BMI) and cognitive decline in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2012; 55: 70–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Gunstad J, Paul RH, Cohen RA, Tate DF, Spitznagel MB, Grieve S et al. Relationship between body mass index and brain volume in healthy adults. Int J Neurosci 2008; 118: 1582–1593.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Gustafson D, Lissner L, Bengtsson C, Bjorkelund C, Skoog I . A 24-year follow-up of body mass index and cerebral atrophy. Neurology 2004; 63: 1876–1881.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Soreca I, Rosano C, Jennings JR, Sheu LK, Kuller LH, Matthews KA et al. Gain in adiposity across 15 years is associated with reduced gray matter volume in healthy women. Psychosom Med 2009; 71: 485–490.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Xu J, Li Y, Lin H, Sinha R, Potenza MN . Body mass index correlates negatively with white matter integrity in the fornix and corpus callosum: a diffusion tensor imaging study. Hum Brain Mapp 2013; 34: 1044–1052.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Stanek KM, Grieve SM, Brickman AM, Korgaonkar MS, Paul RH, Cohen RA et al. Obesity is associated with reduced white matter integrity in otherwise healthy adults. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2011; 19: 500–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Mueller K, Anwander A, Möller HE, Horstmann A, Lepsien J, Busse F et al. Sex-dependent influences of obesity on cerebral white matter investigated by diffusion-tensor imaging. PLoS One 2011; 6: e18544.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Gustafson DR, Steen B, Skoog I . Body mass index and white matter lesions in elderly women: an 18-year longitudinal study. Int Psychogeriatr 2004; 16: 327–336.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Raji CA, Ho AJ, Parikshak NN, Becker JT, Lopez OL, Kuller LH et al. Brain structure and obesity. Hum Brain Mapp 2010; 31: 353–364.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Ho AJ, Raji CA, Becker JT, Lopez OL, Kuller LH, Hua X et al. Cardiovascular Health Study; ADNI. Obesity is linked with lower brain volume in 700 AD and MCI patients. Neurobiol Aging 2010; 31: 1326–1339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Ewers M, Schmitz S, Hansson O, Walsh C, Fitzpatrick A, Bennett D et al. ADNI. Body mass index is associated with biological CSF markers of core brain pathology of Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiol Aging 2012; 33: 1599–1608.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Müller MJ, Lagerpusch M, Enderle J, Schautz B, Heller M, Bosy-Westphal A et al. Beyond the body mass index: tracking body composition in the pathogenesis of obesity and the metabolic syndrome. Obes Rev 2012; 13: 6–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Luchsinger JA, Cheng D, Tang MX, Schupf N, Mayeux R . Central obesity in the elderly is related to late-onset Alzheimer disease. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord 2012; 26: 101–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Harris TB, Visser M, Everhart J, Cauley J, Tylavsky F, Fuerst T et al. Waist circumference and sagittal diameter reflect total body fat better than visceral fat in older men and women. The Health, Aging and Body Composition Study. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2000; 904: 462–473.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Debette S, Beiser A, Hoffmann U, Decarli C, O'Donnell CJ, Massaro JM et al. Visceral fat is associated with lower brain volume in healthy middle-aged adults. Ann Neurol 2010; 68: 136–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Yoon DH, Choi SH, Yu JH, Ha JH, Ryu SH, Park DH et al. The relationship between visceral adiposity and cognitive performance in older adults. Age Ageing 2012; 41: 456–461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Cereda E, Sansone V, Meola G, Malavazos AE . Increased visceral adipose tissue rather than BMI as a risk factor for dementia. Age Ageing 2007; 36: 488–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Kaess BM, Pedley A, Massaro JM, Murabito J, Hoffmann U, Fox CS et al. The ratio of visceral to subcutaneous fat, a metric of body fat distribution, is a unique correlate of cardiometabolic risk. Diabetologia 2012; 55: 2622–2630.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Faxén-Irving G, Basun H, Cederholm T . Nutritional and cognitive relationships and long-term mortality in patients with various dementia disorders. Age Ageing 2005; 34: 136–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Spaccavento S, Del Prete M, Craca A, Fiore P . Influence of nutritional status on cognitive, functional and neuropsychiatric deficits in Alzheimer’s disease. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2009; 48: 356–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Andrieu S, Reynish W, Nourhashemi F, Ousset PJ, Grandjean H, Grand A et al. Nutritional risk factors for institutional placement in Alzheimer's disease after one year follow-up. J Nutr Health Aging 2001; 5: 113–117.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Gil Gregorio P, Ramirez Diaz SP, Ribera Casado JM DEMENU group. Dementia and Nutrition. Intervention study in institutionalized patients with Alzheimer disease. J Nutr Health Aging 2003; 7: 304–308.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Magri F, Borza A, del Vecchio S, Chytiris S, Cuzzoni G, Busconi L et al. Nutritional assessment of demented patients: a descriptive study. Aging Clin Exp Res 2003; 15: 148–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Vellas B, Lauque S, Gillette-Guyonnet S, Andrieu S, Cortes F, Nourhashémi F et al. REAL.FR Group. Impact of nutritional status on the evolution of Alzheimer's disease and on response to acetylcholinesterase inhibitor treatment. J Nutr Health Aging 2005; 9: 75–80.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Devanand D, Lee J, Luchsinger J, Manly J, Marder K, Mayeux R et al. Lessons from epidemiologic research about risk factors, modifiers, and progression of late onset Alzheimer's Disease in New York City at Columbia University Medical Center. J Alzheimer's Dis 2013; 33: S447–S455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Scarmeas N, Luchsinger JA, Schupf N, Brickman AM, Cosentino S, Tang MX et al. Physical activity, diet, and risk of Alzheimer disease. JAMA 2009; 302: 627–637.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Mi W, van Wijk N, Cansev M, Sijben JW, Kamphuis PJ . Nutritional approaches in the risk reduction and management of Alzheimer's disease. Nutrition 2013; 29: 1080–1089.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This publication was supported within the framework of Healthy Ageing Research Centre (REGPOT-2012-2013-1, 7FP). The work was supported by the own resources of the Medical University of Lodz (503/8-040-01/503-01).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R Magierski.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Magierski, R., Kłoszewska, I. & Sobow, T. Evaluation of the influence of metabolic processes and body composition on cognitive functions: Nutrition and Dementia Project (NutrDem Project). Eur J Clin Nutr 68, 1200–1203 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.171

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.171

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links