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Abstract #3450

The effect of weight loss on brain microstructure in obese middle-aged women

Clifford Chan 1 , Heather Collins 1 , Patrick M O'Neil 2 , Joshua Brown 2 , Joseph A Helpern 1 , and Andreana Benitez 1

1 Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 2 Weight Management Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, United States

Almost 40% of middle-aged adults in the US are obese and are at 74% greater risk for developing dementia compared to normal weight peers. A higher BMI has been associated with atrophy of both gray and white matter, in regions that preferentially degenerate with age and demonstrate early pathological signs of dementing diseases. Although these observations suggest that weight loss could be an effective strategy for dementia prevention, no human studies have directly tested whether weight loss is associated with favorable brain changes measured through diffusion MRI. This preliminary study reports changes in DKI metrics before and after weight loss in obese middle-aged women.

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