XXplored - Women's Heart Health and Dementia Risk

In this episode of XXplored: Women's Brain Health, host Dr Laura Stankeviciute from the University of Gothenburg is joined by Dr Jenny Rabin from the University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Research Institute, and Dr Louise Schindler from King's College London, to explain why the heart and the brain belong in the same conversation for women. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women worldwide, yet the picture most people hold of a heart attack is still an older man clutching his chest. The same blind spot carries over to the brain. Most of the dementia risk factors named by the 2024 Lancet Commission, from high blood pressure and LDL cholesterol to diabetes and smoking, are cardiovascular ones, and a growing body of evidence suggests several of them weigh more heavily on women than on men. Jenny Rabin, a neuropsychologist whose work began with vascular contributions to Alzheimer's disease, and Louise Schindler, whose PhD linked cardiometabolic health across the menopause years to later brain changes, follow that thread through a woman's life. In this episode: Why heart disease is the leading killer of women, and what that means for the brain The heart attack symptoms women are most likely to miss What vascular dementia really is, and why it rarely travels alone Why blood pressure in your 40s may matter more for women The female-specific risk factors missing from risk calculators What pregnancy complications can tell us decades later Hot flushes, HRT and the Women’s Health Initiative, revisited GLP-1s, menopause and the belly fat question -- A transcript of this show, links and show notes and profile on all our guests are available on our website at https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk. If you prefer to watch rather than listen, you will find a video version of this podcast on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and on our website. Leave us a tip: https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support Follow us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/ https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/ https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunity https://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher https://bsky.app/profile/dementiaresearcher.bsky.social Download and Register with our Community App: https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher We gratefully acknowledge the support of our funders: Alzheimer’s Association, Race Against Dementia, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The views and opinions expressed by guests in this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the producers, funders, or sponsors. Subscribe to our sister show 'Dementia Researcher The Blogs': https://podfollow.com/dementia-researcher-blogs