Consideration of Sex and Gender in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders From a Global Perspective

Authors

Michelle M. Mielke, Mayo Clinic
Neelum T. Aggarwal, Rush University
Clara Vila-Castelar, Harvard University
Puja Agarwal, Rush University
Eider M. Arenaza-Urquijo, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute
Benjamin Brett, Medical College of Wisconsin
Anna Brugulat-Serrat, University of California San Francisco
Lyndsey E. DuBose, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Willem S. Eikelboom, Erasmus University Medical Center
Jason Flatt, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Nancy S. Foldi, New York University School of Medicine
Sanne Franzen, Erasmus University Medical Center
Paola Gilsanz, Kaiser Permanente Division of Research
Wei Li, University Of Alabama At Birmingham
Alison J. McManus, Massachusetts General Hospital
Debora Melo van Lent, Boston University School of Medicine
Sadaf Arefi Milan, University of Texas Medical Branch
Elizabeth C. Shaaban, University of Pittsburgh
Shana D. Stites, University of Pennsylvania
Erin Sundermann, University of California, San Francisco
Vidyani Suryadevara, Rush University
Jean-Francoise Trani, Washington University in St. Louis
Arlener D. Turner, University of Miami
Jet M. J. Vonk, Columbia University
Yakeel T. Quiroz, Harvard University
Ganesh M. Babulal, University of Johannesburg

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-8-2022

Publication Title

Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer Association

First page number:

1

Last page number:

18

Abstract

Sex or gender differences in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) differ by world region, suggesting that there are potentially modifiable risk factors for intervention. However, few epidemiological or clinical ADRD studies examine sex differences; even fewer evaluate gender in the context of ADRD risk. The goals of this perspective are to: (1) provide definitions of gender, biologic sex, and sexual orientation, and the limitations of examining these as binary variables; (2) provide an overview of what is known with regard to sex and gender differences in the risk, prevention, and diagnosis of ADRD; and (3) discuss these sex and gender differences from a global, worldwide perspective. Identifying drivers of sex and gender differences in ADRD throughout the world is a first step in developing interventions unique to each geographical and sociocultural area to reduce these inequities and to ultimately reduce global ADRD risk.

Keywords

Alzheimer’s; ethnicity, gender; global health; risk factors; sex; sociocultural factors

Disciplines

Cognitive Psychology | Cognitive Science | Disability Studies

File Format

PDF

File Size

357 KB

Language

English

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Publisher Citation

Mielke MM, Aggarwal NT, Vila-Castelar C, et al. Consideration of sex and gender in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders from a global perspective. Alzheimer’s Dement. 2022;1-18. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12662

Repository Citation

Mielke, M. M., Aggarwal, N. T., Vila-Castelar, C., Agarwal, P., Arenaza-Urquijo, E. M., Brett, B., Brugulat-Serrat, A., DuBose, L. E., Eikelboom, W. S., Flatt, J., Foldi, N. S., Franzen, S., Gilsanz, P., Li, W., McManus, A. J., Melo van Lent, D., Arefi Milan, S., Shaaban, E. C., Stites, S. D., Sundermann, E., Suryadevara, V., Trani, J., Turner, A. D., Vonk, J. M., Quiroz, Y. T., Babulal, G. M. (2022). Consideration of Sex and Gender in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders From a Global Perspective. Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer Association 1-18.
Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/alz.12662