Women's cognition declines twice as fast as men's

Women with mild cognitive impairment have significantly faster rates of cognitive decline, compared with men, according to recently published data presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

“Our findings suggest that men and women at risk for Alzheimer’s may be having two very different experiences. Our analyses show that women with mild memory impairments deteriorate at much faster rates then men in both cognitive and functional abilities. These results point to the possibility of as yet undiscovered gender-specific genetic or environmental risk factors that influence the speed of decline. Uncovering those factors should be a high priority for future research,” study researcher Katherine Lin, Duke University Medical Center, said in a press release.

To assess cognitive change differences between men and women with mild cognitive impairment, Lin and colleagues analyzed data from the Alzheimer’s disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Participants included 141 women and 257 men.

Using the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog), results demonstrated that women’s rate of decline (2.3 points/year) was twice as fast as that of men’s decline (1.05 points/year).

Gender was significantly associated with the rate of change on ADAS-cog rates after adjusting for age, education, Mini Mental State Examination score, follow-up time and ApoE4 status (P = .005).

“Women are disproportionately affected by Alzheimer’s, and there is an urgent need to understand if differences in brain structure, disease progression, and biological characteristics contribute to higher prevalence and rates of cognitive decline. To intervene and help reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s, it’s critical to understand the reasons for these differences. Results presented at [Alzheimer’s Association International Conference] 2015 begin to shed light on this issue, but much more research is needed,” Maria Carrillo, PhD, Alzheimer’s Association chief scientific officer, said in a press release. – by Casey Hower