Female chromosomes offer resilience to Alzheimer's - Alzheimer's Society responds

A recent research article was published regarding a second X chromosome contributing to resilience in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.

Read an abstract of this study from the Science Translational Medicine magazine.

Colin Capper, Head of Research Development and Evaluation for Alzheimer’s Society, said:

'Worldwide, women with dementia outnumber men 2 to 1 and 60 per cent of dementia caregivers are female, so Alzheimer’s disease is still very much a women’s issue.

'This study goes against what we might expect, but it’s important to remember this form of the gene is only carried by 13 per cent of women – we need more research to understand if and exactly how this gene may be protective against Alzheimer’s disease. 

'Research like this, that unpicks the differences in risk of dementia for men and women and which is investigating how we might be able to protect our brain cells from Alzheimer’s disease, is vital as it presents the opportunity to develop new drug treatments in the future.'

'Sadly the COVID-19 pandemic is anticipated to have caused on average a 40 per cent fall in research investment this year across medical research charities, which will seriously impact the dementia research field.

'Alzheimer’s Society needs the government to commit to their pledge to double dementia research funding so that we can continue to bring change to everyone affected by dementia.'