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A Being Patient report describes a paid DEXA scan that estimated the writer’s visceral fat and reviews research linking deep abdominal fat with high blood pressure. Separate research has associated untreated hypertension with higher Alzheimer’s risk, but the evidence does not show that a fat scan can predict an individual’s brain health or dementia risk.
A Being Patient report describes a DEXA scan estimating the writer’s visceral fat and examines studies linking fat deep in the abdomen with high blood pressure, a known risk factor for damage to blood vessels in the brain. The reporting does not establish that a scan can diagnose brain health or predict whether a person will develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Being Patient founder Deborah Kan said she paid about $50 for a DEXA scan at a local scanning business. The scan took about seven minutes, and the report estimated that she had 0.41 pounds of visceral fat. It also compared her result with 27,000 people in her age group. Kan noted that people who pay for body scans may be more health-conscious than the wider population, which could affect how representative that comparison is.
Kan distinguished the scan from an MRI: she described DEXA as estimating the total amount of visceral fat, while an MRI can show where it is located. Her personal result is not evidence that low visceral fat prevents high blood pressure or protects the brain. She also said she could not tell whether running explained her result.
The report cites a University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center study that followed 903 Dallas residents for seven years. Participants began with normal blood pressure, and researchers used imaging to assess fat distribution. About one-quarter developed high blood pressure. Body weight was associated with who developed it, but after researchers accounted for fat location, visceral fat was the only fat measure that remained associated with the condition, according to the report.
Why Blood Pressure Matters to the Brain
The possible relevance to brain health runs through vascular health: high blood pressure can damage blood vessels, including those around the brain. The report cites a 2024 study of more than 31,000 older adults across 14 countries, in which untreated high blood pressure was associated with a 42% higher chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Among people whose blood pressure was controlled, that added risk was not observed, the report says.
Those findings concern blood pressure and population-level risk; they do not prove that visceral fat causes Alzheimer’s disease, or that lowering a person’s fat measurement will prevent dementia. The practical takeaway presented by geriatrician Nate Chin is to pay attention to blood pressure rather than treating a body-composition result as a brain-health test. High blood pressure often has no symptoms, so people may not know they have it.
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From Abdominal Fat to Vascular Risk
Visceral fat is fat stored deep in the abdomen around internal organs, unlike fat just beneath the skin. Kan’s report says it is associated with health risks including heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The Dallas research adds a possible connection to developing hypertension, though an association does not by itself establish cause and effect.
The report also notes that other studies have examined fat around the kidneys and its possible role in hypertension, while saying more research is needed. Chin, medical director of the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, described blood pressure monitoring as a useful way to keep track of vascular health. He advised checking it a few times a week and cited below 120/80 as the normal range. Readers should discuss personal readings and health decisions with a qualified health professional.
““The report gave me my answer to the 100th of a pound.””
— Deborah Kan, Being Patient founder
What a Fat Scan Cannot Show
The report does not establish that a DEXA estimate can reveal a person’s brain health, predict future cognitive decline or identify who will develop Alzheimer’s. It also does not provide evidence that reducing visceral fat directly lowers dementia risk. The cited studies examine associations among fat distribution, blood pressure and Alzheimer’s risk, not a proven chain of cause and effect.
Details about the Dallas study’s methods and statistical adjustments are not included in the report, and its findings do not show that visceral fat was the cause of hypertension. The report gives no independent validation data for the specific consumer scan or explanation of how its comparison group was selected. It is also unclear how findings from older adults in the 2024 study apply to younger people.
Monitoring Blood Pressure Over Time
The report describes no new trial or planned research milestone. Kan says she intends to check her blood pressure regularly after the scan prompted her to look into the relationship between visceral fat and vascular risk. The research questions highlighted in the article—including how fat around the kidneys may relate to hypertension—remain open and require further study.
For readers, the next step is not to interpret a DEXA result as a dementia forecast. Anyone concerned about blood pressure, body composition or brain health can discuss appropriate measurements and follow-up with a qualified health professional. A scan’s estimate and a home cuff reading offer different information and should not be treated as interchangeable.
Key Questions
Can a DEXA scan tell me whether I will develop Alzheimer’s?
No. The report describes DEXA as estimating visceral fat, not diagnosing brain health or predicting Alzheimer’s disease. The research discussed does not validate a fat scan as a dementia test.
What did the Dallas study find?
Researchers followed 903 people for seven years; all began with normal blood pressure, and about one-quarter later developed hypertension. According to the report, visceral fat remained associated with developing high blood pressure after researchers accounted for where fat was carried.
What was the reported link between blood pressure and Alzheimer’s?
A 2024 study of more than 31,000 older adults in 14 countries linked untreated high blood pressure with a 42% higher chance of developing Alzheimer’s. The report says that added risk was not observed among people whose blood pressure was controlled. This is a study finding, not a personal prediction.
Does the report recommend getting a DEXA scan?
No. Kan recounts her own paid scan but does not establish that readers need one. The report emphasizes that a scan does not replace blood pressure monitoring or professional advice about individual health concerns.
Source: rss
