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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Risk factors for developing Alzheimers disease are gender specific according to new French research.
In a study of nearly 7,000 people over the age of 65, researchers found suffering from depression and taking anticholinergic drugs -- which influence chemical signaling in the brain -- was more common in those who developed dementia. However, some other risk factors didnt hold true for both sexes.
Researchers report men who were overweight, diabetic and/or had had a stroke were more likely to develop dementia than those who did not have those factors. In fact, suffering a stroke made men almost three times more likely to develop the neurological disease. Conversely, stroke did not increase a womans chance of developing Alzheimers. However, women disabled to the point of being unable to perform daily tasks developed the disease 3.5 times more, while suffering from depression doubled their risk of developing Alzheimers.
A variation in the ApoE gene -- a known risk factor for dementia -- was also observed more often among those whose mild cognitive impairment progressed over the duration of the study.
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SOURCE: Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, doi:10.1136/jnnp.2007.136903
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