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I want you to call to mind someone in your life who has Alzheimer’s - I feel sure everyone knows someone with this condition. Who is it?

And … is it a woman?

In my own family, the people who come to mind are my beloved aunt, and my paternal grandmother, and I can name more people in my extended family and community with this condition - all women. Neither the patient nor the caregiver, nor the family are spared from this painful and ruthless disease.

Of course men get Alzheimer's too - but two-thirds of all patients are women, and the reason why remains a bit of a mystery.

An even bigger surprise: we tend to think of Alzheimer's as a disease afflicting our elders. But what if the seeds of this condition are planted much earlier, in your 30's and 40's?

This episode on Alzheimer’s in women was full of surprises and learnings for me.

My guest, Dr Gillian Einstein, had some truly fascinating things to say from her research on women's brain health: Dr Einstein is The Wilfred and Joyce Posluns Chair in Women’s Brain Health and Aging at the University of Toronto and her research suggests that early life experiences unique to women - surgical menopause, chronic caregiving stress, hormonal changes - might set a trajectory that shows up in their brains decades later.

My 30's were kind of a dumpster fire, I told Dr Einstein. Lots. Of. Stress.

In my late 40's, I had my ovaries removed, and afterwards, the hospital sent me three pamphlets - things to watch out for: bone health, cardiovascular health … and Alzheimer's.

So - what does it mean if the experiences of these decades could set the stage for Alzheimers later on, and what should we know about prevention? Dr Einstein's answers to these questions were illuminating and reassuring.

We also talked about:

-The ultra fascinating Rush Nun Study, an extraordinary longitudinal study of the brains of nuns.

-Treatments for Alzheimer's and why they barely work for women.

-What you can do now to protect your brain health.

-Why we’ve prioritized studying the female reproductive system over almost every other organ, and Dr Einstein was particularly insightful on this, which led to one of my favorite quotes from her in this episode:

“People aren't studying women because they have this excuse that it's too complicated. Women have menstrual cycles, women are childbearing. But I say, if we had been studying women all along and they said to us that we had to study men now, we would say - but men are too simple. It's not a good representation of biology.”

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Take a listen and tell me what you think.

In other news - good news I might add - I’ve been selected as a winner of the National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications. I’m still stunned to be honest, very thrilled, and fired up about what this will mean for Overlooked going forward - I hope it will usher in a positive 2026 for the show, and allow me to keep telling these overlooked stories in women's health that bring to life the science within us.

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Several of you have asked if these newsletters are available on the web, in a shareable link and - now they are. Thank you for asking for this, and please share as widely as your heart desires!

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If you're a caregiver who has a story to tell about Alzheimers, or a reaction to the episode, please email, or send a voice memo, and tell me your thoughts. Voice memos here.

And if you want to listen to another Overlooked episode on brain health, here's one woman's personal story of surviving an aneurysm, my friend Alicia Trujillo's story here.

Wishing you the best of health,

Golda

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