A tremendous amount of adults suffering from age-related illnesses are women, and leading amongst these illnesses is Alzheimer’s disease. Studies reveal that women in memory care centers greatly outnumber men in addition to providing the vast amount of care to seniors with dementia.
WOMEN LIVING LONGER DRIVES ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
Statistics show that women live several years longer than men do on average. According to the U.S. Census Bureau-data, from the cradle to the grave, life expectancy for women is 81 years and 76 years for men. Because Alzheimer’s disease is an “age related” illness, it is logical that it drastically affects more women than men.
The Alzheimer’s Association states that 65% of patients with Alzheimer’s disease are female, which clarifies why women are the majority of patients in memory-care facilities in addition to senior living centers.
THE ApoE4 GENE IS KEY
In both men and women, being an ApoE4 carrier raised the possibility of Alzheimer’s disease, as anticipated. Nevertheless, upon closer inspection, those who originally tested satisfactory the increase was slight in men, but for women who harbored the ApoE4 variant, the chance of progressing to Alzheimer’s disease or mild-cognitive impairment was double.
Studies show that this particular gene has been identified for at least 20 years as the biggest genetically inheritable risk for developing Alzheimer’s, and it affects the brains of women the most, according to research carried out at UCSF and Stanford.
WOMEN ENDURE THE BURDEN OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
The latest report by the Alzheimer’s Association says, “Women are the focal point of the Alzheimer’s spate.” The report mentioned a few surprising specifics concerning Alzheimer’s disease and its effect on women in future decades, counting:
-A woman 60 years of age and over has a one-in-six chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease during the remainder of her life; however, in men the chances are one-in-eleven.
– Caregivers serving those with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are roughly 60%-70% women
-Ten million women are providing non-salaried care to someone close to them with Alzheimer’s disease or some type of memory degenerating disorder.
Due to care giving responsibilities, women will probably experience unfavorable cost in their place of work. Almost 19% of women caregivers helping those with memory loss had to leave their jobs due to becoming a caregiver or their caregiver duties became too onerous.
CONCLUSION
Alzheimer’s disease affects both men and women; however, expanding the peculiarities of the disease and the way it affects both genders has many advantages to hopefully delay the disease or possibly find a cure.
