Scientists are still unraveling why Alzheimer’s disease affects men and women disproportionately. Out of the 5 million Americans who have it, about 64 percent are women.
than men, a factor that has been linked to higher rates of Alzheimer’s. But the effects of exercise seem to lessen both men’s and women’s risk of developing the disease — in April, another study concluded that exercise can helpStill, when it comes to differences between men and women, the answers aren’t always so clear. Genes and hormones may also play a role, but bring scientists into murkier territory, sometimes leaving them with more questions than answers.
Researchers have looked into whether hormone therapy could be a solution to preventing Alzheimer’s in post-menopausal women since the 1990s. A 1996published in JAMA tested hormone replacement therapy in women, finding that estrogen supplements led to a decrease in Alzheimer’s development when administered before menopause.
But despite the fact that the analysis was published in a major medical journal, little follow-up research was conducted into the effects of hormones over the next decade. Pauline Maki, who serves as director of Women’s Mental Health Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has studied the effects of Alzheimer’s on women for over two decades. She says Alzheimer’s research hasn’t always been focused specifically on women, despite the fact that they make up two-thirds of patients.
“That’s a historic phenomenon,” she says. “If women are more likely to manifest the risk factor, then studying women makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?”
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