Study of cognitive function in obese patients , Case-controlStudy

Abstract

Obesity is a risk factor for lowered cognitive function in persons free from clinically diagnosed stroke and dementia. obesity is also a risk factor for CVD simply by virtue of its association with other risk factors. Obesity has emerged as a global public health challenge. Obesity and even overweight have been found to be independent risk factors for CVD. Worldwide obesity has nearly doubled since 1980. In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight. Of these over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were obese. 35% of adults aged 20 and over were overweight in 2008, and 11% were obese. Overall, more than 10% of the world’s adult population was obese. 65% of the world's population live in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight. The importance of excluding persons with cardio vascular comorbidity in studies of risk factors and cognitive functioning has been strongly emphasized in the literature. This is particularly important because persons may intensify efforts to modify risk in response to cardiovascular or cerebro vascular events. Consequently, the present study Will be designed to examine relationships between obesity and cognitive functioning in persons free from completed stroke, dementia, and cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this study was to find the relationship between cognitive dysfunction and obesity. This case-control study was conducted in the Obesity Clinic from Ain shams University Hospital. The total number of patients included in our study was sixty persons, ranging from 30 years to 50 years, they were divided into two groups : Group 1: Thirty obese patients.BMI(>30Kg/m2) Group 2: Thirty non-obese controls.BMI(<25Kg/m2). Our patients were subjected to history taking, clinical examination, measurements "including weight, height and body mass index", laboratory investigations "including fasting blood glucose and fasting lipid profile", duplex on carotid arteries to exclude atherosclerotic changes, general health questions and cognitive function " assessed using Wechsler Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)", cognitive performance "measured by standardized minimental state examination (SMMSE) with questionnaire score". In our study, There were statistically a high significant difference between obese patients and non-obese control sregarding body mass index and laboratory findings including fasting blood sugar, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein, significant differences regarding age, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and marital status and non-significant differences regarding sex and triglycerides. Also, there were statistically high significant differences between obese patients and non-obese controls regarding WAIS and WCST, except for similarities and perseverative responses which exhibited non-significant differences. Our study showed that there were statistically significant correlations between body mass index and cognitive function parameters in obese patients, except for picture completion which exhibited statistically a high significant correlation with body mass index and VIQ which exhibited a non-significant correlation with body mass index.