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Biomarker Identification for Gender Specificity of Alzheimer's Disease Based on the Glial Transcriptome Profiles
Published on: May 20, 2024
Considerations in Alzheimer's Disease in Women
Caroline Just1, Kaitlin Seibert2, Carol Chan2
1Center for General Neurology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Clinic Lerner School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, 9500 Euclid Ave. Mail Code S90, Cleveland, OH, 44195, USA. Justc2@ccf.org.
Purpose Of Review:
To examine sex differences in Alzheimer's disease and cognition with a focus on hormonal transitions, biomarker trajectory, and implications for diagnosis and treatment.
Recent Findings:
Women account for nearly two-thirds of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and demonstrate important biological and clinical differences compared with men. APOE ε4 confers greater risk in women, while menopause, depression, chronic stress, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and metabolic dysfunction may further increase vulnerability. Biomarker studies suggest that amyloid trajectories are broadly similar between sexes, but women exhibit earlier or greater tau accumulation once amyloid pathology is present. Women may maintain verbal memory performance longer than men despite underlying pathology, potentially delaying diagnosis. Emerging plasma biomarkers, particularly p-tau217, may improve early detection, monitoring, and treatment. Alzheimer's disease in women reflects a complex interaction between sex-specific biology, hormonal transitions, psychosocial factors, and neurodegenerative processes. Recognizing these differences has important implications for cognitive assessment, biomarker interpretation, diagnosis, and application of disease-modifying therapies.
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