New Delhi, Aug 13 (IANS) — Women with Down syndrome show more advanced signs of Alzheimer’s disease than men, despite being diagnosed at the same average age, according to a study by the University of California, Irvine.
Researchers found that women with Down syndrome may carry a higher burden of beta amyloid and phosphorylated tau — hallmark Alzheimer’s proteins — than men. The difference was particularly pronounced in the occipital lobe, a pattern also seen in women with sporadic Alzheimer’s disease, the common late-onset form without a clear genetic cause.
The findings, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, highlight the need for sex-specific approaches in Alzheimer’s research, treatment strategies, and clinical trial design.
“Understanding selective vulnerabilities in the brain, and how these differ between women and men, will help us better tailor treatments,” said lead author Elizabeth Andrews, a doctoral candidate at UC Irvine. “Accounting for sex-specific risk factors is critical.”
Alzheimer’s is the leading cause of death for people with Down syndrome, who are genetically predisposed to develop it earlier in life. While earlier research suggested women with Down syndrome may live longer with dementia, few studies had explored whether brain pathology differs by sex.
By analyzing postmortem brain samples, the team confirmed elevated levels of beta amyloid and tau in women.
“If women with Down syndrome are further along in disease progression at diagnosis, it could change how we time interventions and evaluate outcomes in trials,” said Elizabeth Head, Professor of Pathology at UC Irvine. “These insights could improve therapies not only for this group, but for the broader Alzheimer’s population as well.”
