A new study published in Alzheimer's Disease International has explored the impact of Alzheimer's and disorders related to dementia. It confirmed that the disease does put women at a greater disadvantage than men who are suffering from the disease.
In the United States, at least two-thirds of Americans suffer from this debilitating disease and 3.2 million of them are women, according to Alzheimer's Association. But the study also highlighted some more glaring facts that are not just limited to America:
- Women are more likely to develop Alzheimer's by age 60 and they tend to live longer with the disease than men. Some women with Alzheimer's live to the age of 80 or older.
- Symptoms of dementia or Alzheimer's are more severe in women than in men.
- Women not only suffer from the disease longer, they also bear the impact of it as the principal caregivers of other people with Alzheimer's or dementia. At least a third of Alzheimer's caregivers are women and in some countries, they belong to the low- or middle-income working class, according to Daily Local. Stress levels are higher compared to male caregivers.
- In the United Kingdom, the disease is already pegged as the leading cause of death among senior women, according to BBC, and as the years progress, Alzheimer's could become the top health crisis of the century, according to CNN. The most unfortunate part of this is that there is no cure for the condition, and health care costs for the disease are higher than costs for cancer.
It is the study's hope that policies and responses to the this health crisis become more proactive. Standards of services, including funding for more community programs, must be initiated and improved, according to study authors.
The report comes as Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month is observed this June.
