‘Stressors’ in middle age linked to cognitive decline in older women Johns Hopkins Medicine

A new analysis of data on more than 900 Baltimore adults has linked stressful life experiences among middle-aged women — but not men — to greater memory decline in later life. The researchers say their findings add to evidence that stress hormones play an uneven gender role in brain health, and align with well-documented higher rates of Alzheimer’s disease in women than men. 

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 1 in 6 women over age 60 will get Alzheimer’s disease, compared with 1 in 11 men. There currently are no proven treatments that prevent or halt progression of the disease.