Dementia risk in women higher in same‐sex than opposite‐sex twins

Abstract Introduction Hormones may be one possible mechanism underlying sex differences in dementia incidence. We examined whether presumed differential prenatal hormone milieu is related to dementia risk by comparing dementia rates in same‐ and opposite‐sex dizygotic twin pairs in male and female t...

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Main Authors: Jing Luo, Christopher R. Beam, Ida K. Karlsson, Christian J. Pike, Chandra A. Reynolds, Margaret Gatz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020-01-01
Series:Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.12049
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spelling doaj-9794bd0763b64fb0894fec2f00a43d7d2021-04-15T14:35:47ZengWileyAlzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring2352-87292020-01-01121n/an/a10.1002/dad2.12049Dementia risk in women higher in same‐sex than opposite‐sex twinsJing Luo0Christopher R. Beam1Ida K. Karlsson2Christian J. Pike3Chandra A. Reynolds4Margaret Gatz5Department of Psychology University of Southern California Los Angeles California USADepartment of Psychology University of Southern California Los Angeles California USAInstitute of Gerontology and Aging Research Network – Jönköping (ARN‐J) School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University Jönköping SwedenLeonard Davis School of Gerontology University of Southern California Los Angeles California USADepartment of Psychology University of California, Riverside Riverside California USADepartment of Psychology University of Southern California Los Angeles California USAAbstract Introduction Hormones may be one possible mechanism underlying sex differences in dementia incidence. We examined whether presumed differential prenatal hormone milieu is related to dementia risk by comparing dementia rates in same‐ and opposite‐sex dizygotic twin pairs in male and female twins. Methods The sample comprised 43,254 individuals from dizygotic twin pairs aged 60 and older from the Swedish Twin Registry. Survival analyses were conducted separately for females and males. Results Female twins from opposite‐sex pairs had significantly lower dementia risk than female twins from same‐sex pairs, but the differences emerged only after age 70 (hazard ratio = 0.64, P = 0.004). Results were not explained by postnatal risk factors for dementia, and no interaction between twin type and apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 was found. Male twins from same‐sex versus opposite‐sex pairs did not differ significantly. Discussion The results suggest that relatively masculine prenatal hormone milieus correlate with lower dementia risk in females.https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.12049apolipoprotein E4dementiasex differencestestosteronetwin study
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Jing Luo
Christopher R. Beam
Ida K. Karlsson
Christian J. Pike
Chandra A. Reynolds
Margaret Gatz
spellingShingle Jing Luo
Christopher R. Beam
Ida K. Karlsson
Christian J. Pike
Chandra A. Reynolds
Margaret Gatz
Dementia risk in women higher in same‐sex than opposite‐sex twins
Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring
apolipoprotein E4
dementia
sex differences
testosterone
twin study
author_facet Jing Luo
Christopher R. Beam
Ida K. Karlsson
Christian J. Pike
Chandra A. Reynolds
Margaret Gatz
author_sort Jing Luo
title Dementia risk in women higher in same‐sex than opposite‐sex twins
title_short Dementia risk in women higher in same‐sex than opposite‐sex twins
title_full Dementia risk in women higher in same‐sex than opposite‐sex twins
title_fullStr Dementia risk in women higher in same‐sex than opposite‐sex twins
title_full_unstemmed Dementia risk in women higher in same‐sex than opposite‐sex twins
title_sort dementia risk in women higher in same‐sex than opposite‐sex twins
publisher Wiley
series Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring
issn 2352-8729
publishDate 2020-01-01
description Abstract Introduction Hormones may be one possible mechanism underlying sex differences in dementia incidence. We examined whether presumed differential prenatal hormone milieu is related to dementia risk by comparing dementia rates in same‐ and opposite‐sex dizygotic twin pairs in male and female twins. Methods The sample comprised 43,254 individuals from dizygotic twin pairs aged 60 and older from the Swedish Twin Registry. Survival analyses were conducted separately for females and males. Results Female twins from opposite‐sex pairs had significantly lower dementia risk than female twins from same‐sex pairs, but the differences emerged only after age 70 (hazard ratio = 0.64, P = 0.004). Results were not explained by postnatal risk factors for dementia, and no interaction between twin type and apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 was found. Male twins from same‐sex versus opposite‐sex pairs did not differ significantly. Discussion The results suggest that relatively masculine prenatal hormone milieus correlate with lower dementia risk in females.
topic apolipoprotein E4
dementia
sex differences
testosterone
twin study
url https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.12049
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