Bad News for Beer Bellies

I am sure we all know of at least one person with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia. And some of us will no doubt succumb to the same fate.

One good thing about having Alzheimer's is that it's hard remember that you even have something wrong with you in the first place. Now. I am not poking fun at the innocent souls out there that can't remember where they parked their car and end up on the wrong side of the tracks resulting in needless rapes and robberies.

My uncle, who has cancer, delighted me with a joke about Alzheimer's and cancer to expose the level of spirit he still has towards this cruel world.

A guy goes to the doctor because he doesn't feel so well. The doctor pokes and prods and tells the man to come back in a week to check on his results. A week later the man shows up to a empathetic doctor. " I have horrible news." Says the doctor to the man. " You...you have Alzheimer's disease and cancer." The man looks at the doctor as if relieved and replies, " Oh thank god doc. For a minute there I thought you were going to tell me I have cancer."

Well, now there's hope. It is simple. Slim down.

Besides the many problems that come with obesity, Alzheimer's disease and forms of dementia are linked as well. But a report by study author Rachel Whitmer of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California says that beer bellies are now a threat.

Not overall obesity, but just big round midsections. Here's some info from ABCnews.com,

"Analysis found that compared to people in the study with normal body weight and a low belly measurement, participants with normal body weight and high belly measurements were 89 percent more likely to have dementia; overweight people were 82 percent more likely if they had a low belly measurement, but more than twice as likely if they had a high belly measurement; obese people were 81 percent more likely if they had a low belly measurement, but more than three times as likely if they had a high measurement."

So here's my opinion. If I end up with a bulging belly resulting from a diet of delicious foods and beers along with minimal exercise. So be it. But then again. If I have a great life full of bratwurst and budweiser and then I get Alzheimer's? I would most likely end up in a home of some sort, eating granola and drinking prune juice, lacking the wonderful memories of flavor and laziness.

Funk dat!