Do Women get Alzheimer’s disease more than Men?
This week we ask doctors and Alzheimer’s advocates why the numbers on Alzheimer’s are so far tipped towards women. 2/3’s of reported Alzheimer’s cases in America are women! That seems like a big deal but read on to find out just why…
Mike McIntyre :
We were talking with Joan Euronus, who has Alzheimer’s, was diagnosed at the age of 62. We had a call earlier from a man named Bob who’s sister in law passed away in a tragedy related to her Alzheimer’s disease. We had another call about someone who is concerned about their 84 year old mother. I am noticing: woman, woman, woman, and I am wondering if this is a disease that is much more prevalent in females than it is for males can you shed some light on that?
Dr. Leverenz :
I think there is enough evidence now that women are at slightly increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease. The difference isn’t terribly dramatic there are certainly plenty of men that get the disease as well but there is a slight increase risk for women over men.
Mike McIntyre :
In terms of risk I was looking at some of the number and 2/3 of the numbers of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease are women, is that something that is not continuing to trend? Because 2/3’s does seem like a significant number.
Dr. Leverenz :
There is something called a survival bias here which is women tend to live longer and age is the major risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. You put those two numbers together and you see a lot more women with Alzheimer’s than men because they are surviving into the older age where they can get the disease.
Cheryl Kanetsky :
I think one of the things that is surprising to people when they hear this is when a women in her 60’s is twice as likely in her lifetime to develop Alzheimer’s disease than breast cancer. Yet all women care about that and lots of money is put into researching breast cancer and yet the odds are really stunning.
For the US in 2011, the CDC listed that 70,024 women died of lung cancer and 40,929 women died of breast cancer. Of these women, 58,981 of the lung cancer victims and 28,548 of the breast cancer victims were over 60 years of age.
That same year, the CDC listed 59,297 women as dying of Alzheimer’s disease, of whom only 200 were not over 60. However, given that about 500,000 individuals die with Alzheimer’s disease each year, and 2/3 of them are women, just based on survival, about 333,333 women are dying with Alzheimer’s disease in a year.
In 2011, 274,460 women died of cancer in the US, 218,777 of them over the age of 60.
Yes, the numbers for Alzheimer’s disease are considerably greater than for breast cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease is a greater concern for health and mortality for women than cancer, particularly after 60 years of age.
Whether the risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease is greater for women is really not settled since most analyses do not take into account precise ages in their studies, and women really do live substantially longer than men, into the age of Alzheimer risk.
Given these statistics, why do you believe isn’t there more investment in research for a cure? By saving insurance companies, governments, families, and businesses so much money now being spent on care, is it the lack of a clear understanding of what causes Alzheimer’s that causes hesitation by governments and large drug companies to invest in any particular research?
Very important question – why does money flow the way it does. Cancer is experienced by people who have minimal cognitive problems. Though less frequent at younger ages, it inspires enough fear to attract huge funding. Also, tobacco, the main cause of cancer, has strong political support. Ageism is a very big problem for Alzheimer’s disease, along with the assumption that Alzheimer’s disease is just a normal part of aging, and the denial that the problem is as huge as it really is. However, drug companies have wasted a tremendous amount of money on testing the “amyloid hypothesis”, and I doubt there will be any progress in the field until the decision makers understand why this hypothesis is wrong.
Dr. Ashford,
What is wrong with the ‘amyloid hypothesis’? Where should drug companys channel their effort in finding cures for Alzheimer?
A simple answer is that there is a large body of evidence that the amyloid molecule is not relevant in causing dementia.
Drug companies should channel their efforts to determine drugs which balance the neuroplastic mechanisms of the brain for 2 goals, to prevent Alzheimer’s disease long-term and to halt the progression of the disease in those who are developing memory problems. There are numerous specific chemical pathways in the brain that the drug companies should be targeting, separate from anything related to the amyloid molecule itself. A good example is a trial of Leptin as a treatment for mild dementia.
-Dr. Ashford