Three leading voices in the global fight against Alzheimer’s disease are calling for a fundamental shift in how women’s health is understood and prioritised around the world, urging governments and researchers to recognise brain health as central to women’s health.
In a new op-ed, Maria Shriver, founder of the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement (WAM) at Cleveland Clinic; Hilary Evans-Newton, CEO of Alzheimer’s Research UK; and Joanne Pike, President and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association, highlight the urgent need to address the disproportionate impact of Alzheimer’s disease on women. The authors argue that prioritising women’s brain health is critical not only to saving lives, but also to mitigating the growing global economic burden of dementia on governments, healthcare providers and families around the world.
“For too long, women’s health has been compartmentalised into reproductive health, breast cancer, heart health and bone health,” they write. “Missing from the conversation has been a focus on the organ that regulates every part of a woman’s body: the brain. That must end. Women’s health is brain health, and brain health is the core of women’s health.
“Women make up nearly two-thirds of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Yet women’s brains remain largely under-studied, under-discussed and underprioritised in research, risk reduction and care.
“The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that dementia costs the global economy US$1.3trn today, a figure expected to rise to $2.8trn by 2030. In the UK alone, dementia is the leading cause of death for women and costs the country more than £42bn a year – a figure set on course to more than double to roughly £90bn by 2040.”
The op-ed coincides with the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) and was a central topic of discussion at the The WAM Symposium being co-hosted by Cleveland Clinic London. Shriver moderated the panel, exploring the intersection of women’s health and Alzheimer’s disease with Evans-Newton and Pike, as well as Rachel Buckley, an Associate Professor of Neurology at Mass General Brigham in the US.
The op-ed is available here.
The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement at Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit organisation founded by award-winning journalist and former First Lady of California Maria Shriver that raises awareness about women’s increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease, educates the public about brain health and Alzheimer’s disease prevention and raises funds to support women-based Alzheimer’s disease research.
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical centre founded in 1921 that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education.