There are a number of potential biological and social reasons which could be responsible for why more women have Alzheimer’s disease than men. Researchers at the University of Chicago and Boston University School of Medicine have discovered a new gene called MGMT, O6-Methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase, which could be the reason behind the increased risk in women.
Lindsay Farrer, chief of biomedical genetics at BUSM and a senior author of the study said, “This is one of a few and perhaps the strongest associations of a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s that is specific to women. This finding is particularly robust because it was discovered independently in two distinct populations using different approaches.”
Apart from this, other views suggest that this discrepancy between men and women could be due to the fact that women live longer than men on average, and older age is a big risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.
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