Overeating has been linked to a litany of health problems—diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke, to name a few. Memory loss, dementia and even Alzheimer's may someday be added to that list, according to the preliminary findings of a study on aging conducted by the Mayo Clinic.

Mayo researchers caution against reading too much into their work thus far correlating caloric intake in the elderly with the onset of mild cognitive impairment (MCI)—the stage between normal age-related memory loss and early Alzheimer's disease. Still, a report they plan to present in April at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans indicates that overeating may greatly increase the risk of memory loss for elderly people.

In 2006 the Mayo Clinic chose a random sample of 1,233 people in Olmsted County, Minn., ages 70 to 89 years old (none previously diagnosed with dementia) and asked them to fill out a questionnaire describing their diets over the previous year. Participants then returned the surveys to the clinic in Rochester, Minn., after which the researchers grouped the study participants into three categories: those whose daily caloric consumption was between 600 and 1,526 calories; between 1,526 and 2,143; and between 2,143 and 6,000. Each participant then underwent a series of MRI brain scans and cognitive tests.

Correlating caloric consumption with test performance, researchers concluded the odds of having MCI more than doubled for those in the highest calorie-consuming group compared with those in the lowest calorie group. There are several caveats to these findings, however. For instance, the report did not take into account the types of food and beverages consumed nor did it examine the rate at which food was eaten throughout a day.

Study author Yonas Geda acknowledges that the research to better understand the link between MCI and eating in the elderly is still preliminary, but he notes that it does create a foundation for more extensive cause-and-effect research, which he and his colleagues are currently pursuing.

Scientific American spoke with Geda, an associate professor of neurology and psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., and co-chair of the clinic's Neuroscience Discipline Oriented Group, about his team's efforts to identify the causes of memory loss in the elderly and what they plan to investigate in their ongoing research.

[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]


What is mild cognitive impairment?
With MCI, the person is not demented. The person is functioning well, but when you test them on certain memory tests they do poorly as compared to their age-, education- and sex-matched peers. We observed that a daily caloric intake in excess of 2,143 was associated with a significant chance of having MCI. If I am consuming more than 2,143 calories per day, my odds of having MCI is twice that of somebody that consumes 1,526 calories per day.

How did researchers test for MCI?
We determined whether participants had MCI based on three hours of testing when participants came to the Mayo Clinic to turn in their questionnaires. This included testing of memory, language and also sense of direction.

How was memory tested?
Participants were asked to memorize 15 different words and then asked over timed intervals to remember as many words as they could. A normal person might remember seven out of 15 words the first time they are asked, then maybe 10 words the second time and 13 words the next time. After a half hour the person might remember 12 out of 15. With Alzheimer's patients, if give them 15 words to remember, they'll remember two initially. After a half hour, they won't remember any.

Were any participants found to be suffering from MCI?
Yes, 163 people in the study were diagnosed with MCI. So then you divide the participants into two groups: The 163 with MCI, and the 1,070 who tested normal. Then you compare the caloric intake between the two groups. And then you say that caloric intake was higher in the MCI group as compared with the normal group, therefore the higher the caloric intake the higher the chance of having MCI.

7 Comments

1. 1. sparcboy 01:03 PM 2/23/12

   Malnutrition is bad, but healthy calorie restriction is malnourishment. Once can be malnourished without suffering malnutrition, i.e, not getting enough of essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals and the such.

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2. 2. scorpiosphynx 07:13 PM 2/23/12

   Interesting study, but would someone with mild cognitive impairment be able to accurately list their daily food consumption for the past year? I barely remember what I ate yesterday.

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3. 3. GG 08:05 PM 2/23/12

   Perhaps when you are already "pre-demented", you cannot control your urges and eat like a pig. 6,000 calories?...Whoa!

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4. 4. sauIt 08:19 AM 2/24/12

   Right-wing, religious nut and corporate-controlled Conservative Republicans have been successfully pushing high-calorie fat-laden food on people for decades, in order to repress their mental faculties and make them more likely to fall for the standard Conservative line about self-reliance, as opposed to benign and selfless Progressive governance, which is only concerned with fair regulations aimed at ensuring the healthy eating habits of those who may not know better, or have been unfairly denied easy-access to Whole Foods.

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5. 5. shimagyoh 02:37 PM 2/29/12

   Hunger sharpen the intellect? There is relative hunger in which the next meal is a matter of choice of time and opportunity--it could sharpen your intellect. Real absolute hunger is when the next meal is totally beyond your reach. All your wit is diverted to procuring that munch, and it does not sharpen your wit. It does the opposite! People in the developed world do not experience this type of agony.
   Shima

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6. 6. workingonit 06:17 AM 10/3/12

   Seems to me 6,000 calories per day, or anything approaching that figure, would be pretty near impossible to obtain unless one's diet is heavy on items like candy, pastries, fatty meats and so forth; while a diet focusing on vegetarian foods in a more natural form would tend toward the lower, healthier caloric range. So it will be interesting to read the follow-up results as the researchers start to look at the types of food consumed by the two groups.

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7. 7. Dr.Kamlander 10:13 AM 4/25/13

   I remember quite well that during WW 2 we where given Vitamin C Tabletts every days and according to our Food
   stamps it was assured that everybody had their rations, going from 1500 calories for normal users up to 4500 calories for workman say in iron founderies etc. Thanks to god that this time is over but the numbers are facts of a gitantic test.
   There must be somewhere details of all the different ration published. how much fat, how much vegetebles etc. People where in a way also healthier,
   much lower gastrointestinal problems, ect. But it seems
   that is the price for peace. I try to keep my weight
   correct and on the other end I am happy that I have such a tremendous choice of food.
   Dr. Kamlander, austria europe
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

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