Women twice as likely as men to develop Alzheimer’s. New research suggests why

(Laurel Leicht, Sarah Ellis/ Health Central) — If you’re a living, breathing human being, chances are you know someone affected by Alzheimer’s disease. It is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, killing more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. Currently, more than five million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, and that number is projected to grow to nearly 14 million by the year 2050.

Women are twice as likely as men to develop Alzheimer’s, and the disease is more common in older Black and Hispanic adults than it is in white adults. The reason for this remains somewhat of a medical mystery. “We know Alzheimer’s and other dementias hit women harder than men, but we don’t know why,” says Keith Fargo, Ph.D., the director of scientific programs and outreach at the Alzheimer’s Association in Chicago. “Lifelong differences in women may affect their risk or protect them from dementia, and we need more research that helps us understand the full continuum of contributions to a person’s risk.”

A recent study in Neurology aimed to better understand the reason for that gender imbalance. Researchers found a connection between menopausal hormone shifts and brain markers for Alzheimer’s. Lisa Mosconi, Ph.D., the coauthor of the study, director of the Women’s Brain Initiative and associate director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, explains why this is significant: “For a long time, the general mindset was that women lived longer than men, and Alzheimer’s was a disease of old age, and that was why the prevalence was higher in women,” she says. (…)