Alzheimer's Protein Higher in Women, May Mean Higher Risk of Symptoms

A study published in JAMA Neurology found older women with normal cognition had higher tau measures in the entorhinal cortex than men, suggesting women have a higher risk of developing symptoms of the disorder, reports the National Institute on Aging . The team analyzed positron emission tomography (PET) brain scans from two studies containing 296 older adults, including 173 women. All subjects exhibited normal cognitive function when they first received a brain scan to measure tau, and also underwent PET scans to measure beta-amyloid. Researchers think people with higher beta-amyloid concentrations also have more tau, and these proteins interact early in Alzheimer's progression. In comparison with the men's scans, the women's scans showed significantly higher tau deposits in the entorhinal cortex in individuals with high beta-amyloid levels. There were neither strong male-female differences in beta-amyloid levels alone, nor evidence that APOE E4, a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's, interacts with gender to influence tau.