[Profile of Alzheimer's disease in women].

INTRODUCTION

Alzheimer's disease is 1.5 to 3 times more frequent in women than in men. This fact can be biased as women as a group have more long life survival. Semantic memory and naming are more frequently and severely impaired in women.

DEVELOPMENT

Both genetic and environmental factors can contribute when one determined case develops Alzheimer's disease. A known risk factor for this development in women is oestrogen deprivation in menopause: accumulated evidence does exist. After menopause, plasmatic levels of two main oestrogens, oestradiol and oestrone, fall. It has been suggested that this estrogenic deprivation would increase the risk of development of Alzheimer's disease in women. Conversely, estrogenic replacement could decrease that risk. There are several neurotransmitters whose systems were influenced by estrogens. Amongst them, there are included acetylcholine, serotonin and norepinephrine. Estrogenic replacement could ameliorate the brain function or also delay the development of Alzheimer's dementia syndrome, by acting over a number of metabolic targets. Prospectively, some action on certain groups of women at risk must be analyzed. Neuropsychological testing ad hoc will be evaluated, both for the patients with clinical disease and for the population at risk, in this late case to ascertain a possible delay in the appearance of Alzheimer's disease symptoms.