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(CNN) –
Women who gave birth five times or more may have a 70% greater chance of developing Alzheimer's disease later than those with fewer births, according to a new study more 3,500 women in South Korea and Greece.
The study analyzed only women over 60 years old and the average age of women evaluated in both countries was 71 years old.
The study also found that women with one or two incomplete pregnancies were significantly less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than women who had never been pregnant. In fact, women who have had an interrupted pregnancy have almost half the risk.
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"Based on previous research, we were expecting a pregnancy," writes the author of the 39, study, Kim Woong Kim, neuropsychiatrist at the National University of Seoul, in an email.
"However, we were rather surprised that incomplete pregnancy is associated with lower risk of Alzheimer's, what we did not expect at the beginning of our research. "
The World Alzheimer Report 2016 indicates that more than 47 million people in the world live with dementia, it is more than any population from Spain
Just that in the United States, 5.5 million are currently living with the disease and 3.4 million of them are women. According to the Alzheimer's Association, women in their 60s are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease because they have breast cancer.
Older age is the biggest risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, and women are often living longer than men. But age is not the only factor
Studies show that women tend to have more amyloid plaques than men of the same age and mental status; Other studies have shown that women with mild memory problems or undergoing surgery with anesthesia decrease faster than men.
And a Stanford study found that women with the ApoE-4 gene, a genetic risk factor, are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease as women without ApoE-4. However, men who wear ApoE-4 only have a slightly elevated risk.
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What in women could increase their chances of developing dementia? An obvious goal for research has been hormones and the role of pregnancy. The results were mixed.
"In animals, early pregnancy was associated with better cognition at the end of pregnancy and early postpartum with impaired cognition," said Kim
. In humans, estrogen is neuroprotective when it is moderately high whereas it is neurotoxic when it is extremely high. "
Pregnancy is a hormonal roller coaster.In the first trimester, estrogen levels increase modestly and then skyrocket for the rest of the pregnancy.For the third trimester, Kim says, levels of Estrogen can be "up to 40 times higher" than their peak levels during natural menstrual cycles.
Within four days after delivery, estrogen levels for Most at the same time, levels of progesterone and a stress hormone called cortisol increase rapidly during pregnancy, but they decrease after the baby is born.
According to Kim, these imbalances could explain the unusual results of the study.
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"Because Most Incomplete Pregnancies Occur During the First Quarter of Pregnancy, It Is It is possib The moderately elevated levels of estrogen during the first trimester of pregnancy lie in the optimal range to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Ijo.
But too many births can do the opposite, Kim said, continually exposing women to dramatically high levels of estrogen hormones and stress, followed by sudden withdrawals, reducing brain reserve.
The results are new and quite surprising, "said Pinky Agarwal, a Washington neurologist and member of the American Academy of Neurology who did not participate in the study. attributed the increased risk of Alzheimer's disease in women of five or more births to increased vascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, obesity, hypercholesterolemia and the diabetes
use of oral contraception, which also affects hormone levels
Overall, Agarwal said, the study analyzed a possible factor that contributes to the risk of Alzheimer's disease in women deserving further study.
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James Hendrix, who leads the global science initiatives for the A Alzheimer's association, agrees with the need for more research. He thinks it's premature to suggest that hormones are the main culprit.
"There are other things that occur during pregnancy beyond a change in hormonal levels," he said. immunological, a healthy or deficient diet, the level of exercise and the stress of parenting five or more children can have an impact. Cultural differences can also play a role, as can access to medical care. "
The underlying reason why women are more likely to have Alzheimer's disease is likely to be multiple, says Hendrix, and science needs to better understand what these factors could be.
"The most important thing for women is more research to understand why," he said. "Women do not wake up one day and have Alzheimer's disease, brain health is a life course, and we need to understand how our brains are affected by what we do early in life and all at the same time. our life. " 19659033]
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