Alzheimer’s Disease in women behaves differently as they suffer from migraines more often, they die more often from strokes and more often get Alzheimer’s than men.
The female brain is susceptible to hormonal changes which should be taken into account in prevention.
The female brain has been neglected, criticized the US neuroscientist and nuclear medicine specialist Lisa Mosconi. The book “The female brain” has been published in German, which is mainly dedicated to women and Alzheimer’s. In the US, 67 per cent of Alzheimer’s patients are female. It has been explained that women tend to get older than men.
Alzheimer’s is a disease in old age. But, Lisa Mosconi contradicts this because more women get Alzheimer’s than men as women’s brains age differently.
More on Alzheimer’s in Women
The reason lies in the hormonal balance of the women’s body. Women’s brains, in particular, are sensitive to hormonal changes. Menopause is a turning point for the brain, says Lisa Mosconi heading New York Women’s Brain Initiative. When testosterone levels drop steadily in men, estrogen drops rapidly and sharply in women. The brain then no longer metabolizes glucose effectively when women have a genetic predisposition to suffer from a brain disease like Alzheimer’s, the risk increases.
Women suffer from migraines more often, they die more often from strokes and more often get Alzheimer’s than men. The female brain is susceptible to hormonal changes. One should keep this in mind when it comes to prevention.
How Human Brain Works Precisely is still Unexplored?
In the US, 67 per cent of Alzheimer’s patients are female, says Lisa Mosconi. Women tend to get older than men as Alzheimer’s is a disease in old age. Lisa Mosconi contradicts due to the main reason that more women than men get Alzheimer’s is that women’s brains age differently.
Hormones as Fuel
The reason for this lies in the hormonal balance. Hormones, among other things, power the brain. Women’s brains mainly are sensitive to hormonal changes. Menopause is a turning point for the brain, says Lisa Mosconi. She is also director of Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York and heads the Women’s Brain Initiative there.
Testosterone levels drop steadily in men while estrogen drops rapidly and sharply in women. The brain then doesn’t metabolize glucose as effectively. It doesn’t work anymore if women have a genetic predisposition to suffer a brain disease such as Alzheimer’s, the risk increases.
Women are Compassionate
Women also suffer from migraines and depression more often and die more often than men from strokes. Mosconi connects all of this to the hormonal balance. The brain is in contact with the whole body and suffers from health problems. Obesity, cholesterol levels or stress also have an impact on brain health. In particular, women’s brains are sensitive to hormonal changes – more than men, Lisa Mosconi has found out in studies in the past.
Early Prevention
Lisa Mosconi advises women to prevent Alzheimer’s and dementia as early as middle age. In her book “The Female Brain” she gives tips for a healthy everyday life. About a lot of plant-based nutrition, enough exercise and enough sleep. And she hopes that more neurologists will be interested in the hormonal balance of her patients in the future.
According to the Austrian Alzheimer’s Society, more than 100,000 Austrians suffer from dementia, and the vast majority have Alzheimer’s. According to the Austrian Ministry of Social Affairs, two-thirds of people with dementia in Austria are women.