Women with Alzheimer’s may have worse cognitive skills than men

Friday, 24 August 2012

A study by UK researchers suggests women with Alzheimer’s may experience worse cognitive decline than men with the disease. The research, which analysed data from 15 separate studies is published on Friday 24 August in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology.

Dr Eric Karran, Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK’s leading dementia research charity, said:

“This type of analysis can be a useful way of identifying common trends and features of a disease. This study has revealed a possible tendency for men with Alzheimer’s to preserve their mental performance better than women, and the next step will be for scientists to investigate why this might be. As the researchers point out, surprisingly few studies have investigated the effects of gender on Alzheimer’s. The more we understand about the different biological mechanisms at play in Alzheimer’s disease, the better our chances of developing treatments that could make a real difference to people’s lives.

“Every person’s experience of Alzheimer’s is different and no individual with the disease will ever be just a statistic. With half a million people in the UK affected by Alzheimer’s, we urgently need effective treatments. New treatments can only come through research, but if we are to offer hope for the future, we must invest in research today.”