Scientists discover women with Alzheimer's suffer from three major health issues more than men

Researchers have found that women with Alzheimer's disease suffer from three major health issues more than men do.

The NHS explains that Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, a group of symptoms associated with an ongoing decline in brain functioning, in the UK.

The study, titled Sex differences in modifiable risk factors of dementia and their associations with cognition, was published earlier this week (19 May) in Biology of Sex Differences.

It outlines the findings made by scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, who analysed data from more than 17,000 middle-aged and older adults.

The experts found that several modifiable dementia risk factors appear to affect women’s cognitive function more strongly than men’s.

A new study has found that women with Alzheimer's disease suffer from three major health issues more than men do (Getty Stock Images)

"Looking beyond which risk factors are most common, we found that some have a disproportionately larger impact on women's cognition," said Megan Fitzhugh, assistant professor of neurosciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine and first author of the study.

"This suggests that prevention efforts may be more effective if they are tailored not just to risk factor prevalence, but to how strongly each factor affects cognition in women versus men."

According to the researchers, the findings may offer an explanation as to why women account for nearly two-thirds of Alzheimer’s cases in the United States.

The study in question examined 13 established dementia risk factors using data from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative group of US adults in mid to late life.

Factors included education level, hearing loss, smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, hypertension, diabetes, and other cardiometabolic conditions.

The scientists found that women were more likely to report depression, physical inactivity and sleep problems (Getty Stock Images)

The scientists found that women were more likely to report depression, with a 17% rate compared to just 9% in men, as well as physical inactivity, with a rate of 48% against 42% and sleep problems, with 45% compared to 40%.

Women also had slightly lower average educational attainment, cited as another risk factor for cognitive decline.

"These differences highlight the importance of considering sex as a key variable in dementia research," said Judy Pa, senior author and professor of neurosciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

"Sex differences are profoundly overlooked among many leading causes of death like Alzheimer's, heart disease and cancer."

"Ultimately, a more nuanced understanding of these differences could help us design smarter, more targeted interventions," Fitzhugh concluded. "That's an essential step toward reducing the burden of dementia for everyone, but especially for women, who are disproportionately affected."