Why Alzheimer's in women is being missed: Their better memory of words means early signs of the disease go undetected

  • Females perform better on memory tests - despite having the same decline
  • The find suggests the female brain has a buffer against its early symptoms 
  • Experts say this means Alzheimer's is not spotted until later in its course 

By Fiona Macrae Science Editor For The Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

They have a reputation for being good listeners. 

But women's superior memory for words could be stopping them from being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Research shows that females do better than males on memory tests – despite have their brains have deteriorated to the same extent.

The find suggests that the female brain has an inbuilt buffer against the early symptoms of Alzheimer's – meaning the disease is not spotted until later in its course.

Females do better than males on memory tests ¿ despite have their brains have deteriorated to the same extent, researchers found

Females do better than males on memory tests – despite have their brains have deteriorated to the same extent, researchers found

This means they may be missing out on vital treatment and support.

Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York gave more than 1,300 elderly men and women through a test of verbal memory.

This involved them trying to recall a list of 15 words just after they heard them, then again half an hour alter.

A similar memory test is used in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's.

The volunteers also underwent brain scans that measured the metabolism of the cells frontal lobe, the area responsible for memory.

A drop in metabolism is a sign the cells are unhealthy and occurs in Alzheimer's.

Women with healthy brains did better on the test than healthy men.

The find suggests that the female brain has an inbuilt buffer against the early symptoms of Alzheimer's ¿ meaning the disease is not spotted until later in its course

The find suggests that the female brain has an inbuilt buffer against the early symptoms of Alzheimer's – meaning the disease is not spotted until later in its course

Females also scored more highly when the scans showed mild and moderate damage.

However, by the time the damage was advanced, there was no difference in memory performance between the sexes.

Researcher Erin Sundermann said women's superior memory skills may mask the early stages of dementia.

She said: 'These results suggest that women are better able to compensate for underlying changes in the brain with their 'cognitive reserve' until the disease reaches a more advanced stage.

IS THE RATES OF DEMENTIA SLOWING DOWN?

The global explosion of Alzheimer's disease has long been blamed on people living longer than ever before and population growth.

But rates of dementia - especially among men - may be slowing down, new figures suggest.

Over-65s in some western countries are now less likely to develop the debilitating disease than the generation before them, scientists found.

Rates of the disease have even fallen by 20 per cent in as many years - as just 209,000 new cases were reported in Britain in 2015.

In 1991, experts predicted the figure would have been 251,000. 

Advertisement

'This is especially important because verbal memory tests are used to diagnose people with Alzheimer's disease so women may not be diagnosed until they are further along in the disease.'

This disparity means women could be missing out on drug treatments as well as support and advice that would help them and their loved ones prepare for the future.

And with drug companies around the world racing to develop drugs that stop Alzheimer's from ever developing, if given early enough, the phenomenon could be become even more important in years to come.

Writing in the journal Neurology, Dr Sundermann said: 'If these results are confirmed, adjusting memory tests to account for the differences between men and women may help diagnose Alzheimer's disease earlier in women.'

Dr Doug Brown, of the Alzheimer's Society, said that more research is needed but added: 'We know that women tend to perform better on verbal tests throughout their lives.

'These results indicate that this way with words could make them more resilient to the effect of early-stage Alzheimer's disease, despite the condition causing similar levels of damage in both men and women.

'Understanding how better language skills might be masking the effects of the condition could help doctors to better spot the early warning signs.'

Dr Rosa Sancho, of Alzheimer's Research UK, said the study 'highlights the potential importance of gender differences in understanding dementia'.  

Alzheimer's Disease

Most watched News videos