“Short Arms, Legs May Indicate Alzheimer’s Risk“

Sucks for Mateo! CLICK HERE to read the article accompanying this headline.

[Image via Mavrix Online.]

Short Arms, Legs May Indicate Alzheimer’s Risk

Arms and legs that are shorter than average are an indication of poor nutritional intake in the early stages of life, when these limbs, especially the legs, normally experience rapid growth. The region of the brain affected most severely by Alzheimer’s disease also experiences rapid growth at the same time.

With the link between growth of the limbs and development of this crucial area of the brain in question, researchers believe inadequate dietary intake during the first year or two of a person’s life not only affects growth but also leads to susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease and other chronic medical conditions that typically strike later in life.

Tina L. Huang, PhD, began the study at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and continued it while working at Boston’s Tufts University Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center. Her findings are presented in the bonus issue of Neurology, a journal of the American Academy of Neurology, dated May 6.

Huang’s research involved 2,798 people for about five years each. Each study participant was part of the Cardiovascular Health Cognition Study and each had body measurements, including arm span and knee height, measured for the study. Most participants were about 72 years old at the onset of the study and almost all of them were white. Before the study ended, 480 participants had developed one form or another of dementia.

Of the women developing dementia, those with the shortest arm spans proved to be 1.5 times more at risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, than women measuring longer arm spans. The risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia decreased by 16% with each additional inch of leg length in women.

Dementia in the men in the study was affected only by arm span, with leg length proving to be of little significance to the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. In the men, each inch added to arm span was reflected by a 6% decrease in the development of these diseases.

Huang identifies a strong connection between socioeconomic background and height. Reduced height, also called stunting, is an indicator for poor nutritional intake during the first two years of life, when the limbs grow the fastest. Inadequate dietary measures during this time of life may also prove to be an important factor in a person’s state of health throughout life.

Previous studies based on people in Korea are consistent with Huang’s findings. The Korean studies also indicated a greater risk for dementia in people who also had shorter arms and legs.
The National Institutes of Health, the National Institute on Aging, and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute provided funding for Huang’s study.

Share It!