Risk Factors For Dementia Are Different Between Men And Women

According to a study published in the Journal of Neurology
Neurosurgery and Psychiatry,
men and women have different risk factors that contribute to the
development of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The French researchers
found
that stroke is a main risk factor for men and depression is a critical
factor for women.



The researchers analyzed a sample of almost 7000 people over age 65
from three French cities. None of the patients had dementia, but about
40% had some type of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) that affected
their
mental agility. Patients were evaluated at the start of the study, and
the researchers monitored their progress two and four years later.



Of the patients in the sample who were considered to have some type
of cognitive impairment, over 6.5% developed dementia over the next
four years. There was no change noted in about 50% of the patients, and
about 33% actually returned to normal levels of cognitive agility.



The researchers found that depressed patients and those taking
anticholinergic medications (interfering with chemical signals in the
brain) were more likely to decline from mild cognitive impairment to
dementia. In addition, people who had a particular variation in the
ApoE gene - known to be a risk factor for dementia - were more likely
to progress from mil cognitive impairment to dementia.



A key finding was that these risk factors were different for males and
females. Mild cognitive impairment in men was associated with being
overweight,
having diabetes, and having a history of stroke. Further, the
researchers found that having had a stroke increased the likelihood of
a male's progression to dementia by a factor of three.



Among the women, mild cognitive impairment was associated with
being in poorer general health, being disabled, having insomnia, and
having a poor
support network. Women who could not perform routine daily tasks were
3.5 times as likely to progress to dementia, and depressed women were
two times as likely to progress.



Although stroke occurs at a similar rate in both men and women, it was
not found to be a risk factor for dementia in women.



"Some potentially reversible risk factors for progression to dementia
were identified, which were not the same for men and women (notably
stroke in men and subclinical depression and use of anticholinergic
drugs in women). These factors should be taken into account in the
development of gender-specific clinical intervention programmes for
MCI," conclude the authors.



Risk profiles for mild cognitive impairment and progression to
dementia are gender specific

S
Artero, M-L Ancelin, F Portet, A Dupuy, C Berr, J-F Dartigues, C
Tzourio, O Rouaud, M Poncet, F Pasquier, S Auriacombe, J
Touchon,
K Ritchie

Journal of Neurology
Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. (2008)

doi 10.1136/jnnp.2007.1369The TheWi03

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Written by: Peter M Crosta