Obesity Reduces Womens Brain Power

PITTSBURGH—Obesity may be linked to a reduced volume of gray matter in the brains of postmenopausal women, according to a new study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine.

“A subset of women from the Pittsburgh Healthy Women Study (HWS) who had been followed for an average of 15 years was invited to participate in brain-imaging studies,” said lead author Isabella Soreca, MD, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh. “We found that those who had gained the most weight had lower gray matter volume. Women who gain weight tend to have high blood pressure, impaired glucose tolerance and other health concerns that are known to affect the brain.”