Is Alzheimer more intense in women than men?

Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, a general term for memory loss and other intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases. It is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gets worse over time
Experts are claiming Alzheimer hits women harder than men, blaming menopause and less time at work. The British team which conducted the study claim that women seem to have worse memory, thinking power and spatial awareness than men at a similar stage of the disease, according to a major review of dementia research. In 2015, there were an estimated 46.8 million people worldwide living with dementia, of which Alzheimer's is the most common form, according to Alzheimer's Disease International.
The scientists, from the University of Hertfordshire, found that men with Alzheimer’s consistently outperform women on a number of fronts. According to the review, published in the World Journal of Psychiatry, women with Alzheimer’s have poorer long-term memory than men - both in terms of ‘episodic’ memory about their own experiences, and ‘semantic’ memory about more general concepts such as names of colours and days of the week. The authors found that women with the disease also perform less well in terms of visual-spatial ability and verbal skills. Professor Keith Laws of the Hertfordshire School of Life and Medical Sciences, said: ‘Sex differences in neurocognitive function are relatively well established in, for example, autism, schizophrenia, depression and dyslexia.
‘Despite clear evidence, however, that Alzheimer’s disease is more prevalent in women, until recently little research had focused on neurocognitive differences in men and women with Alzheimer’s disease.’
His team looked at the results of 15 previous studies, involving more than 2,000 people with Alzheimer’s. When combined, the results showed that men performed better than women on all fronts. The authors wrote: ‘Although not unanimous, the evidence presented in this review converges on the multiple cognitive abilities being more adversely affected by Alzheimer’s disease in women than in men.
‘Men modestly but significantly outperform women in all of the cognitive domains assessed.
‘Neither any differences in age nor dementia severity could account for the male advantage.’
Alzheimer’s results in progressive degeneration and death of nerve cells, causing a decline in cognition and memory functions. The team are unsure exactly why women are affected more severely but suggested several possibilities. One theory is that the reduction of oestrogen in postmenopausal women diminishes cognitive functions such as memory, which is subsequently compounded by Alzheimer’s. Another possibility concerns the fact that men have traditionally spent more time in work, and this activity may give them greater ‘cognitive reserve’, enabling them to better resist the impact of the illness.
Cognitive reserve is the degree to which a person can function despite damage of the brain. People with a lot of cognitive reserve generally cope better with advancing dementia.
It is therefore fundamental that we continue to identify the role of sex differences to enable more accurate diagnoses and open up doors for new treatments to emerge
Dr James Pickett, head of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘We already know that two thirds of people living with dementia are women.
‘This could be in part due to the fact that women live longer, but it also appears that women are at a higher risk of developing dementia for reasons that we don’t yet know.
‘This review pulls together much of the existing evidence to give us a clearer idea about the impact that Alzheimer’s disease has, particularly for women.
 ‘However, it’s key to remember that, regardless of gender, no two people with dementia are the same and will experience different signs and symptoms.’