Sex and gender differences in Alzheimer’s disease: current challenges and implications for clinical practice

In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the progression, risk factors, and symptoms show significant variability. This variability can be influenced by many factors and sex and gender are emerging as crucial elements that affect the manifestation and progression of AD.

In this review, we explore how taking into account sex and gender differences could improve diagnosis, treatment, and clinical trial design in AD.

Key takeaways:

1. Cardiovascular issues, depression, education, and APOE ɛ4 genotype are well-known AD risk factors, but their impact varies between men and women. Elucidating the interaction among sex, gender and risk factors is extremely important
2. Studies show that women with AD tend to decline more rapidly, especially in memory and language skills, than men. This progression discrepancy suggests the need for sex-specific data in developing accurate diagnostic and prognostic models
3. Women with amyloid and tau proteins accumulation (known AD biomarkers), show faster disease progression than men with the same levels, suggesting that biomarker cutoffs could be optimized by sex to improve diagnostic accuracy
4. Recognizing sex and gender in AD studies could lead to better-targeted treatments and using more sex-stratified analysis in drug trials may reveal previously undetected effects of treatments on subgroups

Check our publication here: Sex and gender differences in Alzheimer’s disease: current challenges and implications for clinical practice (wiley.com)

A big thank you for the great work behind this article: M. T. Ferretti, J. Martinkova, E. Biskup, T. Benke, G. Gialdini, Z. Nedelska, K. Rauen, V. Mantua, D. Religa, J. Hort, A. Santuccione Chadha and R. Schmidt . Religa, J. Hort, A. Santuccione Chadha and R. Schmidt