Alzheimer’s Impacts More Women Than Men. Scientists Find New Reasons Why In Brain Scan, Genetic Studies.
Researchers found that tau networks, a protein that forms tangles and destroy brain nerve cells, were more diffuse in women. Genetic differences also play a role, although researchers can't explain how yet. While two-thirds of Alzheimer's cases are in women, researchers also found they are able to mask the signs of dementia longer than men because of better brain metabolism.
The Associated Press:
New Clues On Why Women's Alzheimer's Risk Differs From Men's
New research gives some biological clues to why women may be more likely than men to develop Alzheimer's disease and how this most common form of dementia varies by sex. At the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday, scientists offered evidence that the disease may spread differently in the brains of women than in men. Other researchers showed that several newly identified genes seem related to the disease risk by sex. (7/16)
NPR:
Why Is Alzheimer's Risk Higher For Women?
Researchers used special brain scans to compare tau in the brains of more than 400 men and women. Some had mild cognitive impairment, a memory problem that often precedes Alzheimer's. And in this group, a person's sex affected where tau appeared in the brain. "We saw a more spread-out pattern in women with mild cognitive impairment than men with mild cognitive impairment," Shokouhi says. (Hamilton, 7/17)
The Washington Post:
Women Who Work For A Salary See Slower Memory Decline In Old Age, Reducing Their Risk Of Dementia, A New Study Suggests
Women who engaged in paid employment between ages 16 and 50, whether mothers or non-mothers, had better memories in late life than women who did not work, the study found. The rate of memory deterioration was fastest among women who never earned a wage. Memory loss is one of the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of California at San Francisco and Boston College tracked 6,836 American women born between 1935 and 1956 across about 20 years. Participants were enrollees in the Health and Retirement Study, a federally funded long-term observational study of aging people across the United States. (Natanson, 7/16)
