Professor Gillian Einstein joined CBC’s The Current to share her expertise on women’s brain health and aging, and the biological and social factors that shape women’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
“We’re learning that Alzheimer’s disease starts much earlier in life than we ever thought before. In my lab, we study the earliest risk factors, even in women’s thirties, that will help us understand what kinds of interventions—and when to intervene—will be most successful,” Einstein said.
“We’re learning that early life estrogen life, or estradiol loss, is a really key element in how women’s brains age.”
Einstein’s research has found that a cancer reducing surgical procedure known as bilateral salpingo-oophorectomies (BSO), which involves the removal of both ovaries and fallopian tubes, puts women at risk of cognitive decline, a strong predictor of late-life Alzheimer’s disease.
Einstein also spoke to CBC News about her research.
“I think we’re beginning to be at an inflection point,” said Einstein, speaking from the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) as more and more scientists look to unravel why more women are being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease than men.
Scientists now know that the timing of important hormonal changes, like when women get their first periods and the age they reach menopause, play a role in Alzheimer’s risk.