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A Being Patient report describes a DEXA scan estimating the author’s visceral fat and reviews research linking deep abdominal fat with high blood pressure. Separate evidence connects untreated high blood pressure with increased Alzheimer’s risk, but the reporting does not establish that a person’s visceral-fat measurement can predict their brain health.
Being Patient founder Deborah Kan says a DEXA scan estimating her visceral fat led her to examine how deep abdominal fat may relate to blood pressure and brain health. The report describes research connecting visceral fat with later high blood pressure and separate evidence linking untreated hypertension with Alzheimer’s risk, but it does not show that a belly-fat scan can diagnose or predict dementia for an individual.
Kan paid about $50 for a DEXA scan at a local scanning business. She reports that the scan took about seven minutes and estimated she had 0.41 pounds of visceral fat. Her report compared her with 27,000 people in her age group, and she said she fell into its lowest-fat group. The comparison group’s characteristics and the scan’s accuracy for predicting health outcomes are not established in the article.
Kan distinguishes DEXA from MRI: the DEXA report estimated the total amount of visceral fat, while she says MRI can show where it is located. Her individual result is an account of one scan, not evidence that her running caused the low estimate or that the number indicates her future brain health.
The report cites a University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center study that followed 903 people in Dallas for seven years. Participants began with normal blood pressure, and researchers used imaging to assess fat distribution. About one-quarter developed high blood pressure. The report says body weight initially predicted who would develop hypertension, but after researchers accounted for fat location, visceral fat was the only fat type still associated with the outcome. The article does not provide enough study detail to establish cause and effect.
Blood Pressure Connects Fat and Brain Risk
The potential relevance to brain health runs through vascular health. High blood pressure can damage blood vessels, including those around the brain, according to the Being Patient report. That makes blood pressure a more direct measure to monitor than assuming a visceral-fat estimate reveals an individual’s dementia risk.
The report also cites a 2024 study of more than 31,000 older adults across 14 countries. Untreated high blood pressure was associated with a 42% higher chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease. In people whose blood pressure was controlled, the additional risk was no longer present in the reported findings. This is an association in a study population, not proof that blood pressure alone causes Alzheimer’s or that controlling it guarantees prevention.
For readers, the distinction matters: a scan may prompt questions about metabolic and cardiovascular health, but the evidence described does not make visceral fat a stand-alone brain-health test. The report’s practical emphasis is on measuring blood pressure, a risk factor that can go unnoticed because hypertension often has no symptoms.
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From Visceral Fat to Hypertension
Visceral fat is fat stored deep in the abdomen around internal organs, unlike fat directly beneath the skin. Kan writes that she had a relatively low body mass index and runs regularly, but wanted to know whether she carried this less visible type of fat. Her account illustrates why body weight alone may not describe fat distribution; it does not establish that every person with a low BMI has substantial visceral fat.
The report says other studies have examined fat around the kidneys and its possible role in hypertension, while stressing that more research is needed to understand that relationship. It also quotes Dr. Nate Chin, a geriatrician and medical director of the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, who described blood pressure monitoring as a useful window into brain health. Kan says Chin advised checking blood pressure a few times a week and keeping it below 120/80. That figure is the advice reported in the article, not a substitute for an individual clinician’s guidance.
““The most useful thing my $50 scan did was point me to a new measurement to monitor my health.””
— Deborah Kan, Being Patient founder
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What a Fat Scan Cannot Tell
The report does not establish that a particular visceral-fat quantity predicts cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease or an individual’s future brain health. It also does not say whether the scan’s estimate was independently verified or explain how the comparison group of 27,000 was selected. Kan herself notes that people who pay for body scans may be more health-conscious than the wider population.
The Dallas study, as summarized, found an association between visceral fat and later hypertension after accounting for fat location. That does not show that visceral fat caused the condition. Nor does the separate blood-pressure study prove that fat reduction prevents dementia. The report provides no evidence that a goal of zero visceral fat is necessary, achievable or beneficial for everyone. The effectiveness of consumer scales that estimate visceral fat is also not assessed.
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Monitoring Blood Pressure Over Time
Kan says she plans to check her blood pressure regularly with a cuff, following the advice she received from Chin. Readers concerned about their own blood pressure, body composition or dementia risk can discuss appropriate measurements and interpretation with a qualified health professional; an at-home reading or commercial scan should not be treated as a diagnosis.
The research question remains open: further studies would be needed to clarify whether visceral fat directly contributes to hypertension, how fat near the kidneys may be involved, and whether changes in fat distribution affect long-term brain outcomes. For now, the report’s supported takeaway is narrower: visceral fat has been associated with hypertension, and high blood pressure is a potentially modifiable risk factor linked with brain health.
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Key Questions
Can a DEXA scan tell me whether I will develop Alzheimer’s?
No. The report describes DEXA as estimating visceral-fat quantity, but it provides no evidence that the scan can predict an individual’s Alzheimer’s risk.
What did the Dallas study find?
In a seven-year study of 903 people who began with normal blood pressure, about one-quarter developed hypertension. The report says visceral fat remained associated with that outcome after researchers accounted for fat location.
How is blood pressure connected to brain health?
The report says high blood pressure can damage blood vessels around the brain. It also cites a 2024 study in which untreated hypertension was associated with a 42% higher chance of Alzheimer’s among more than 31,000 older adults in 14 countries.
Does the report recommend trying to eliminate visceral fat?
No. Kan says she is unsure that zero visceral fat is possible or necessary. The article does not establish a target amount that applies to everyone.
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