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No need to try to lose weight then?

No, this study is not attempting to draw that conclusion, nor does it.

What it says is very old people who were predisposed to cognitive impairment (MCI here stands for mild cognitive impairment not myocardial infarction) or Alzheimers who are older, have one BMI point less but are still overweight, and get less overall activity are more likely to have progression to those diseases than people who are younger, have one BMI point more, and get more overall activity.

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>Those who developed MCI were older (mean [SD] age, 79.6 [5.9] years vs 76.9 [6.6] years), consumed less alcohol (median [IQR] consumption, 0 [0-5.8] g/day vs 1.1 [0-6.9] g/day), had a lower BMI (mean [SD], 27.2 [4.9] vs 28.2 [5.9]), and were more likely to be apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 carriers (89 of 371 [24.0%] vs 98 of 568 [17.3%]) compared with those who remained cognitively intact over follow-up. Those who developed dementia were older (mean [SD] age, 81.0 [5.2] years vs 79.1 [6.0] years), had a lower level of physical activity (median [IQR] activity, 1.0 [0-2.5] h/week vs 1.8 [0.2-3.8] h/week), and were more likely to be APOE ε4 carriers than those who were dementia-free (33 of 88 [37.5%] vs 56 of 283 [19.8%]). Compared with participants who remained cognitively intact, in those with incident MCI, BMI tended to decline earlier and faster.

Wait so the group who consumed less alcohol had higher rates of MCI? Did a read it wrong? I was literally just talking to a Dr friend whose specialty is geriatric care and one of the first things she recommends to patients experiencing early cognitive symptoms is cut out alcohol, since…neurotoxin. The brain as one ages processes alcohol less effectively, to boot, and she’s seen distinct improvement in her patients based on that habit change alone.

It is an association, not causation. Meaning that the reduction of consumption of alcohol didn't necessarily cause the MCI. Hypothetical example: It could be that in the initial stages of MCI alcohol no longer provides euphoria and therefore the person stops drinking, and then later on develops symptoms of MCI. It is still a good practice to eliminate alcohol because it may slow the progression of impairment (and your doctor friend probably has study data to back this up.)

You just described a mechanism for the correlation. Doctors tell at risk patients to stop drinking alcohol.

What?!? I don't understand what you're saying.

This sounds accurate. Also, older people in general drink less frequently because it's less fun and generally a social activity

I’m old so I guess I’ll try to keep my weight as is.

I'm fat and old and I used to have a drinking problem, and I have no idea what any of you are talking about?

I should point out that I do have WBM disease

Oh look a shiny thing

I thought we were calling it Plus size?

What happened?