Women's Better Memory Masks Alzheimer's Signs

Women with symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease tend to have better verbal memory skills than men, which may cause the disorder to go undetected till it is at an advanced stage, a new study has found. Women perform better than men on tests of verbal memory throughout life, which may give them a buffer of protection against losing their verbal memory skills in the precursor stages of Alzheimer’s, known as mild cognitive impairment. This is especially important because verbal memory tests are used to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment, so women may not be diagnosed until they are further along in the disease. The study included people 254 people with Alzheimer’s disease, 672 people with mild cognitive impairment and 390 people with no thinking or memory problems.