Alzheimer’s disease is often portrayed as the unavoidable price of aging. Yet women bear a disproportionate share of that burden. They account for roughly two-thirds of cases — a statistic frequently attributed to longer life expectancy. That explanation is partly true. It is also incomplete.
Emerging research suggests that something biologically significant may occur long before age 65. Around the menopausal transition, the female brain experiences shifts in energy metabolism, thermoregulation, vascular dynamics, and structural protein regulation. These changes do not guarantee dementia. But they may influence how resilient — or vulnerable — the brain becomes over time.
If Alzheimer’s unfolds over decades, then midlife may be where the story meaningfully begins.
