Why are two-thirds of Alzheimer’s patients women? Women live longer than men, making up an ever larger share of the surviving cohort at any given age, and Alzheimer’s is an age-related disease. This doesn’t explain the whole of the difference, however. A dominant hypothesis is that the immune system is sufficiently different between the sexes to produce marginally greater dysfunction and neuroinflammation in women, in the same way that still incompletely understood biochemical differences lead to a greater incidence of autoimmunity in women. Researchers here produce supporting evidence for this hypothesis, showing that female Alzheimer’s model mice exhibit a greater burden of <a hr…
Sex Differences in Microglial Senescence in the Context of Alzheimer's Disease
Why are two-thirds of Alzheimer’s patients women? Women live longer than men, making up an ever larger share of the surviving cohort at any given age, and Alzheimer’s is an age-related disease. This doesn’t explain the whole of the difference, however. A dominant hypothesis is that the immune system is sufficiently different between the sexes to produce marginally greater dysfunction and neuroinflammation in women, in the same way that still incompletely understood biochemical differences lead to a greater incidence of autoimmunity in women. Researchers here produce supporting evidence for this hypothesis, showing that female Alzheimer’s model mice exhibit a greater burden of <a hr…