Falling levels of sex hormones in older men and women could result in the build-up of a protein thought to trigger Alzheimer’s disease, an Australian researcher has said.
Ralph Martins, a professor of Alzheimer’s and Ageing at Edith Cowan University, said research found that men with lower levels of testosterone had higher levels of beta amyloid protein linked to Alzheimer’s.
Beta amyloid protein is a toxic substance that can kill neurones in areas of the brain that are important for learning and memory, and is widely thought to lead to Alzheimer’s.
“On the other hand, higher levels of testosterone coincide with lower levels of beta amyloid protein and improved cognitive performance,” Martins told the annual meeting of the Australian Neuroscience Society in Perth on Monday.
