Women – More Vulnerable to Alzheimer’s?

Brain Research

Why do women make up two-thirds of Alzheimer’s cases? Studies are on-going during this month, National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month.  At the NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Dr. Richard Isaacson, neurologist, is determined to find answers to this question and is treating younger people at risk for the disease decades before symptoms show up. Dr. Isaacson explained, “Alzheimer’s starts in the brain 20 to 30 years before the first symptom of memory loss.” He went on to state, “That’s shocking to some people. When it comes to women, there are biological changes, metabolism changes in the brain that happen decades before.” This month he is launching a new and potentially revolutionary study, monitoring 75 women, ages 40 to 65, who are at risk for Alzheimer’s, trying to pinpoint early changes in their bodies that may lead to the disease. Dr. Isaacson wants to know the very first sign. He asks, “Is it a change in the brain that we can detect? Is it a change in a blood marker that we can detect?” He explains that there are endocrine and hormone changes, for example, the menopause transition, and asks, “could that be a trigger?” Over the four-year study, subjects will receive regular blood screens, brain scans, and cognitive tests to track changes in their bodies that correlate with the early signs of Alzheimer’s. Dr. Isaacson hopes to ultimately enroll 400 women in the research, but he needs more private funding to do so. See more at: https://www.today.com/health/women-alzheimer-s-new-study-looks-early-body-changes-t118227.