Hidden Risks Of Alzheimer’s Tests For Women

According to SAEDNEWS, citing Medical News, women account for nearly two-thirds of Alzheimer’s cases.

However, according to a study from Georgia State University, standard screening tools rely on a one-size-fits-all approach that does not take into account differences in how the male and female brain ages.

The study focused on a test commonly used to screen for mild cognitive impairment, also known as MCI. MCI is a critical middle stage between normal aging and full-blown Alzheimer’s disease.

What is the problem? A woman may still perform well on the 30-point Mini-Mental State Examination even while her brain is physically undergoing changes.

For the study, researchers analyzed brain scans of 332 individuals at different stages of the disease. They examined gray matter volume, the brain tissue that supports thinking, movement, and memory.

They found that women’s brains appear to compensate for early damage by relying on a broader range of brain regions to maintain function. This may allow the disease to remain hidden from standard screening tools.

Lead author and neuroscience professor Mukesh Dhamala said in a press release: “A woman scoring well on the MMSE during MCI may still have underlying brain changes that are not fully captured by that score alone.”

He and his colleagues found that healthy male and female brains both have significant gray matter volume. However, once mild cognitive impairment develops, differences begin to emerge.

In men, brain shrinkage (atrophy) tends to occur earlier in the transition from healthy aging to MCI. However, once women reach MCI, their brains show more severe and widespread decline.

This means that by the time a woman’s test scores begin to drop, physical brain damage may already be significantly advanced. This masking effect can delay care.

Researchers believe these findings pave the way for more personalized medicine.

Instead of giving everyone the same test with the same threshold, doctors may eventually tailor interpretations based on sex, as well as factors such as hormones and genetics.

Dhamala noted: “The long-term hope is that findings like ours will lead to sex-specific screening windows and earlier, more precise interventions.”

For women, these windows may eventually include midlife or post-menopause, when hormonal changes significantly affect brain health.

He added that staying mentally and physically active, managing vascular health, and discussing family history or genetic risk of dementia with a doctor are good steps to protect brain health.