Rare Diseases News Briefs for Week of February 25, 2001
Men and women have similar risk for Alzheimer's disease, according to a long-term study.
Alzheimer's Disease Risk Similar Between Men And Women
Source: Am J Epidemiol 2001;153:132-136
WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Jan 19 - Men and women do not differ significantly in age-specific prevalence or age-specific incidence of Alzheimer's disease, according to data published in the January issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Dr. Liesi E. Hebert of Rush Institute for Healthy Aging in Chicago and colleagues evaluated noninstitutionalized individuals 65 years and older residing in East Boston, Massachusetts.
Clinical evaluations revealed no significant difference in the age-specific prevalence of Alzheimer's disease. In a cohort [group] of 467 persons, 84 of the 262 women and 50 of the 205 men had Alzheimer's disease. After 11 years of follow-up, the investigators found no sex-specific increased risk of mortality [death] due to Alzheimer's disease when compared with those without Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers also noted no significant difference between women and men in the age-specific risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. "Among the 642 persons who were initially free of Alzheimer's disease, 57 of the 362 women and 38 of the 280 men developed Alzheimer's disease over an average of 4.3 years," the authors write.
"Despite this, women bear most of the burden of Alzheimer's disease," Dr. Hebert's group writes. The researchers calculated that the lifetime risk of Alzheimer's disease was 32% for women and 18% for men.
This is explained, however, by the lower average mortality risk from all causes for women compared with men, the authors point out. Therefore, "the excess number of women with Alzheimer's disease is due to [their] longer life expectancy."
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