New Delhi: Women with Down syndrome exhibit more advanced signs of Alzheimer’s disease than men, despite both sexes receiving diagnoses at the same average age, according to researchers at the University of California, Irvine. Published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, the findings suggest the need to reconsider how and when treatments are delivered for women with Down syndrome.
The study found that women with Down syndrome tend to have a higher accumulation of beta amyloid and phosphorylated tau—two key proteins linked to Alzheimer’s—compared to men. This disparity was particularly notable in the occipital lobe among women with sporadic Alzheimer’s, the more common late-onset form without a clear genetic cause.
“Understanding selective vulnerabilities within the brain and how these differ in women versus men will help us to better navigate treatment outcomes. We're learning the importance of modifiable risk factors, which include accounting for sex-specific risk,” said lead author Elizabeth Andrews, a doctoral candidate at UC Irvine.
These findings highlight the need for sex-specific approaches in Alzheimer’s research and treatment, especially in clinical trial design.
Alzheimer’s is the leading cause of death among individuals with Down syndrome, who are genetically at higher risk of developing the condition earlier in life. While some earlier research has indicated that women with Down syndrome may live longer with dementia than men, few studies have investigated differences in brain pathology between the sexes.
In this study, researchers analyzed postmortem brain tissue and measured the levels of Alzheimer’s-related proteins to assess disease progression.
“If women with Down syndrome are further along in disease progression at the time of diagnosis, it could change how we time interventions and interpret outcomes in clinical trials,” said Elizabeth Head, Professor of Pathology at UC Irvine. “This research could help tailor therapies more effectively, not just for people with Down syndrome, but for the broader Alzheimer’s population as well.”
