Why are two out of three people struck by Alzheimer's disease women?
That's the question that drove journalist and author Maria Shriver to start the Women's Alzheimer's Movement (WAM). The group is dedicated to raising awareness that women face a greater risk of Alzheimer's disease, and aims to fund women-based research for Alzheimer's disease.
"Women's research is way behind men's research, and the Women's Alzheimer's Movement sits there pushing. Because we can't close the knowledge gap unless we do the research. And we can't help women on the front lines of this disease without that research," Shriver said at a WAM luncheon this week honoring new research grant recipients.
Shriver, 64, has spoken openly about her father Sargent Shriver's battle with Alzheimer's disease, and how it destroyed her "father's beautiful brain." But she soon noticed that when people shared their stories of loved ones with Alzheimer's disease, the stories were disproportionately about women.
When Shriver pressed experts on why the brain disease seemed to affect so many more women, she was told it was because women live longer.
Not one to let a potentially important story go, Shriver partnered with the Alzheimer's Association to look closer at this connection. The result was "The Shriver Report," which confirmed that women were, in fact, being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease far more often than men. And it wasn't just a factor of women living longer.
But no one knows exactly why Alzheimer's disease ravages so many more female minds.
And many women and their families still don't realize the seriousness of the risk. A woman in her 60s faces an estimated 1 in 6 lifetime risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. For breast cancer, the risk is 1 in 11, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Therefore, research is essential, WAM says.
Some of the early research projects receiving grants from WAM include:
Despite the significant challenges that Alzheimer's disease presents, Shriver said she remains hopeful, encouraged by the progress that has been made since her father was diagnosed with the disease in 2003.
"While we don't have a cure, we do know so much more today about our brain health and what we can do to slow, if not prevent, Alzheimer's disease in the future," Shriver said.
More information
Learn more about Alzheimer's disease from the Women's Alzheimer's Movement.