Why Low Estrogen Levels in Women is Linked to an Increased Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease

In the U.S., two-thirds of diagnosed cases of dementia and Alzheimer's disease are women.

A number of studies have shown that lower estrogen levels "before, during, and after menopause" is a risk for late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

However, the risk factors associated with declining estrogen levels and late-onset Alzheimer's disease in women as they age is not widely known.

Estrogen is a regulator of glucose metabolism in women and brain estrogen deficiency sets in motion a brain energy metabolism crisis in women—particularly after menopause.

A decline in estrogen in menopause is commensurate with a decline in cerebral glucose metabolism.

Thus, the inability to efficiently metabolize glucose in the aging brain (glucose hypometabolism) predicates the need for an alternate fuel to sustain the brain's high demands for energy .

The demand for an alternate mitochondrial fuel in low estrogen states results in a compensatory shift to ketone metabolism that is enabled by the metabolism of fats derived from myelin-a nerve sheath substance that wraps around the axon extension of nerves.

That catabolism of myelin (grey matter demyelination) is a signature hallmark of grey matter atrophy and the loss of brain volume, which in turn is a pathological feature in the progression of Alzheimer's disease in the aging brain.

Plus, female ApoE4 carriers may be at higher risk for glucose hypometabolism and an earlier onset of myelin breakdown.

Additionally, ApoE4-related mitochondrial dysfunction is also linked to the development of late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Since "mitochondrial DNA is maternally inherited and mitochondrial defects that contribute to the risk for brain metabolic deficits that include glucose hypometabolism and oxidative stress is seen in adult offspring of mothers with a history of Alzheimer’s.", optimizing mitochondrial function in the aging brain is of critical importance—particularly in ApoE4 carriers.

Please listen in to episode # 10 for more on this vital association between estrogen deficiency and the increased risk for of late-onset Alzheimer's disease in women.

 

Ralph Sanchez, MTCM, CNS, D.Hom

https://www.TheAlzheimersSolution.com

 

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