Why Women Are Twice as Likely to Get Alzheimer's and What To Do About It | Sandy Gleysteen
5/25/202653 min
Sandy Gleysteen, award-winning journalist turned Alzheimer’s advocate and Chief Communications Officer at the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement (WAM), joins us to unpack why women bear a disproportionate share of Alzheimer’s risk and what can actually be done about it. The conversation covers the critical role of estrogen as a neuroprotector, the window of opportunity around perimenopause and HRT, and the surprising finding that up to 50% of Alzheimer’s cases may be preventable through lifestyle.
WHAT WE EXPLORE
* Why two-thirds of Alzheimer’s cases are women, and the estrogen connection
* Perimenopause as a critical window for brain protection and HRT timing
* Up to 50% of Alzheimer’s cases may be preventable with lifestyle changes
* Exercise and nutrition as first-line defenses against cognitive decline
* How poor sleep allows amyloid plaques to build up in the brain
* Why loneliness is as damaging to brain health as smoking two packs a day
* The APOE4 gene test: should you get tested, and what to do with results
* Creatine for women: brain and body benefits that outpace the research on men
* Statins, cholesterol, and a critical open question no one is answering yet
* Practical caregiving strategies when someone you love has dementia
ABOUT DR SANDY GLEYSTEEN:
Sandy Gleysteen spent decades as an Emmy Award-winning television producer at NBC and CBS, partnering with Maria Shriver on some of the most significant women’s journalism of a generation. After witnessing multiple family members navigate memory loss, she earned a Master’s in Gerontology from USC at age 67 and pivoted her career entirely to brain health advocacy. She now serves as Chief Communications Officer at the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement, co-founded by Maria Shriver, and plays a central role in expanding WAM’s research grant program and the Women’s Alzheimer’s Prevention Center at Cleveland Clinic.
CONNECT WITH DR SANDY GLEYSTEEN
* Instagram (WAM): https://www.instagram.com/womensalzmovement/
* Website**:** https://thewomensalzheimersmovement.org/
Timestamps
* 00:00 Welcome: What Is the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement?
* 01:45 Dementia vs. Alzheimer’s: What Every Woman Needs to Know
* 03:00 Estrogen as a Neuroprotector: Why Menopause Puts Women at Risk
* 05:00 HRT and Brain Health: The Window You Cannot Miss
* 08:15 Sandy’s Journey from NBC to WAM: Journalism Meets Brain Science
* 15:55 40-50% of Alzheimer’s Is Preventable: Exercise, Nutrition, and Stress
* 24:35 Sleep and the Glymphatic System: Your Brain’s Overnight Clean-Up Crew
* 28:45 Alcohol Is a Neurotoxin: What the Research Actually Says
* 35:10 Creatine for Women: Brain Benefits Backed by Science
* 37:15 The APOE4 Gene Test: Should You Get Tested?
* 39:20 WAM Prevention Center at Cleveland Clinic: Who It Is For
* 47:45 Practical Caregiving Advice: How to Support Someone with Alzheimer’s
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsGabby Reece· Host0:05
Hi, everyone. Welcome to Proof of Practice, where our hope is to give you the most science-backed information on everyday health issues or things in wellness that we wanna do better at, prevent, or accomplish, um, but bring it into you in a practical way. Because all of us are busy, and how do we take this information and actually apply it to our day-to-day life? And today, we have a very special guest. So we're really honored to have Sandy Glystein here, who is an award-winning journalist, but deep into her career, she pivoted and has now moved into talking all about Alzheimer's. She's gonna be here on behalf of WAM, Women's Alzheimer's Movement, and the reason that this is important is because two-thirds of the people impacted by Alzheimer's are women. Sandy, welcome to the show.
Speaker 10:49
Thank you. Glad to be here.
Gabby Reece· Host0:51
I think you should start because you have... This really touches you in a deep way. I mean, it touches... We've all been impacted by Alzheimer's. We know somebody. We've cared for somebody. But you, you have gone through a lot of family members.
Speaker 11:05
I do have a family history of it. Both of my grandparents died with Alzheimer's, and my dad has dementia, and it's terrifying. And so I'm actually gonna go off-script right from the very beginning. But can you tell us the difference between Alzheimer's and dementia, or what are some of the things we need to know there? Well, dementia is memory loss, and there are many, many reasons, um, for people to lose their memories, um,