More women get Alzheimer’s, may not be about age. For years researchers have observed that more women get Alzheimer’s disease than men, but many chalked it up to the fact that women live longer than men. New research has found that “even after taking age into account, women are more at risk [for Alzheimer’s than men].” The researchers found that “women who are 70 to 79 years old are twice as likely as men the same age to develop Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. After 80, the risk is identical and remains similar throughout the rest of life.” The reasons are likely complex and may be related to cardiovascular risk, “educational attainment, susceptibility to depression, and other ailments that affect women more than men.” More research is needed to understand the many different factors that may be playing a role. 

More Americans are obese than ever before. Americans have been told for years that too many of us are obese or overweight. But all that talk doesn’t seem to have budged the trend. An analysis of the U.S. population found that “rates of adult obesity increased in six U.S. states and fell in none last year, and in more states than ever – 20 – at least 30 percent of adults are obese.” The overall obesity rate remained at about one in three adults, but shows that the trend isn’t slowing down. “Continuing a years-long trend, nine of the 10 states with the highest rates of obesity are in the South. The West and Northeast had the healthiest BMIs, with Colorado boasting the lowest adult obesity rate, 21.3 percent. Obesity also tracked demographics, with higher rates correlating with poverty, which is associated with lower availability of healthy foods and fewer safe neighborhoods where people can walk and children can play for exercise.

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