Grant: Project Grant

Obesity in mid-life is a significant risk factor for dementia and Alzheimer's disease. However until recently there were very few safe and effective weight loss treatments available. This situation has changed in the last few years with the advent of a class of medications called GLP1 agonists. These medications were originally developed to treat diabetes however it was realized that they could also cause significant weight loss in people without diabetes. We plan to recruit 120 individuals aged 30-55 and administer a medication called tirzepatide to them for one year. This is expected to cause a 15 to 20% loss in body weight and ameliorate metabolic measures. We will then use magnetic resonance imaging to see if weight loss is associated with concomitant changes in brain health. Participants will have extensive clinical evaluations. We will then be able to see if improvement in metabolism is associated with improvements in brain and cerebrovascular function and anatomy.