Alzheimer's May Strike Women and Men in Different Ways

A study in JAMA Network Open suggests that while Alzheimer's may develop later in women than men, women tend to deteriorate much faster, reports Medical Xpress . "These sex differences in cognitive decline might be due to differences in sex hormones, structural brain development, genetics, psychosocial factors, lifestyle factors, functional connectivity, and brain pathology," said University of Michigan Medical School Professor Deborah Levine. She added that this rapid deterioration might imply that women are at risk for a late or delayed diagnosis of cognitive decline. "For now, we need to factor these differences into how we test women and men for Alzheimer's in both the clinic and in research settings," said the Alzheimer's Association's Rebecca Edelmayer. "For example, there may be a need for more sensitive testing tools or different testing thresholds that correlate to unimpaired versus impaired cognition for women and men, so we can detect changes as early as possible."