In an often-reported fact, two out of every three people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) are women. It appeared again in a recent New York Times (NYT) article. It was written by the neuroscientist, Dr. Lisa Mosconi, about the link between menopause and Alzheimer’s.
Intriguingly, it may not be true. It could be explained by the fact that women are more likely to seek a diagnosis than men. Perhaps women show earlier symptoms of the disease. Reports and studies do show a connection between menopause and AD.
Dr. Mosconi and her colleagues used brain imaging technology to look for signs of AD. The study revealed that post- and perimenopausal women had more Alzheimer’s plaques than premenopausal women. These plaques are thought to disrupt the brain’s function which leads to AD. These results may show a connection between changes in hormone levels and the development of AD. It does not show that more women get AD than men.
In 2017, Arthur W. Toga, Ph.D., at the University of Southern California (USC), co-authored a reportwhich reviewed the data of 58,000 patients with late-onset Alzheimer’s Disease. There is a standout conclusion.
Men and women have an equal chance of developing AD.
In fact, the study showed that between the ages of 55 to 85, women are no more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than men. That really is quite a different piece of information from the scary factat the start of this article. This conclusion should be a cause of celebration for women.
However, both the imaging tests performed by Dr. Mosconi and the USC study do have similar conclusions. There is a link between menopause and AD. Both conclude that for women, earlier treatment and preventative measures should be looked at. Dr. Mosconi states that in the latest research and her own studies, estrogen “serves to protect the brain from aging.” She goes on to advocate eating foods that naturally boost estrogen production. She lists citrus fruits, soy, almonds, apricots and garlic, amongst others, that can help.
Reading the medical articles and research studies can be depressing. But if we look beyond the headlines, we find that the current research shows that there is no increased risk for women of developing Alzheimer’s. But perimenopause should be the opportunity for women to start taking preventative action; to do what they can to ward off dementia.
As with Dr. Mosconi, Japanese scientists have concluded that diet can help women experience a better menopause. In Japan, women’s diet is different than in the US. Japanese women eat less red meat and more soy. Scientists have extracted a phytoestrogen, aglymax, from soy. During the menopause, estrogen levels drop in the body. It is this fall in estrogen that initiates the symptoms of the menopause. Aglymax is proving important, as whilst not having the same effects as estrogen, phytoestrogen can bind to the empty estrogen receptors in the body. This tells the brain that there hasn’t been such a drastic drop in estrogen and the symptoms of menopause are lessened.
At Juveriente™ , we aim to help women help themselves. We’ve developed our Effisoyproduct, as an easy way to add aglymax (a phytoestrogen) to your diet without having to eat lots of soy every day. It’s simple. It’s Japanese and it might just make the difference.
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