Alzheimer’s disease affects women more and occurs more quickly in women than in men.
Researchers from Duke University (United States) studied the medical data of 398 participants, 141 women and 257 men, mostly in their seventies, who all suffered from mild cognitive impairment such as memory loss. They followed the volunteers for 8 years.
The results of the study reveal that cognitive decline is faster in women with mild cognitive impairment. Since these disorders can be the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease, this work could help to better understand why women as they age are much more affected by the disease. Women saw their cognitive state deteriorate twice as fast as men.
“These results suggest that there may be gender-specific genetic or environmental risk factors that may affect the rate of decline in cognitive abilities,” says Katherine Amy Lin, a researcher at Duke University and one of the co-authors of the study. ‘study.
“If we want to change the trajectory of this disease, the federal government must greatly increase the amount of research funds which are extremely limited given the scale of the problem”, underlined Dr. Maria Carrillo, chief scientist of the American Alzheimer Association.
This study confirms the conclusions of a recent study by Stanford University researchers which revealed that nearly two-thirds of American patients with Alzheimer’s disease are women and that a 65-year-old woman has 1 risk in 6 of being affected by Alzheimer’s disease whereas for men, the risk ratio is 1 in 11. Similarly, once the disease is declared, women decline more rapidly than men.
In France, more than 850,000 people are affected by Alzheimer’s disease and nearly 225,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. The number of patients is expected to reach two million in 2020.
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