Sex differences and risk factors

It has been demonstrated that hypertension, type II diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, and smoking are vascular risk factors that increase the chances of experiencing accelerated cognitive decline or developing dementia. Some studies have found that these vascular risk factors affect women’s cognition more severely than men’s. However, the reasons behind these observations remain to be elucidated. Some researchers have hypothesized that the decrease in estrogen levels during menopause increases women’s risk of developing vascular risk factors and experiencing accelerated cognitive decline. Hormonotherapy might compensate for this estrogen reduction. However, the complex interaction between sex, vascular risk factors, and cognitive decline, as well as the role of menopause and hormonotherapy in this interaction, still needs to be understood.

Our study aims to identify sex-related differences in the impact of vascular risk factors on cognitive decline and to better understand the role of menopause and hormonotherapy in this interaction by using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. This study will provide more knowledge about the impact of vascular risk factors in cognitive decline and the risk of developing dementia, but also contribute to a better understanding older women’s health, who face a double stigma in research, ageism and sexism.

Faculty Supervisor:

Simona Brambati

Student:

Partner:

Université du Luxembourg

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

Université de Montréal

Program: