Carina Wattmo (Sweden)
Clinical Memory Research Unit
Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö, Lund University
Carina Wattmo began work in the medical field as a Registered Nurse. Her broad background includes Bachelor of Science degrees in Business Administration and Statistics, and many years of work experience as a controller and medical statistician at the Psychogeriatric Clinic, Lund University Hospital, Lund and at the Neuropsychiatric Clinic, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden. Wattmo became more interested in medical research and she obtained a PhD from Lund University in Medical Science, focusing on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression and the development of prediction models to estimate the cognitive and functional longitudinal outcomes in cholinesterase inhibitor-treated patients. She currently works as a researcher and is affiliated at the Clinical Memory Research Unit, Lund University. Wattmo continues to expand the dimensions of her research by investigating potential risk factors that affect various aspects of disease progression and endpoints in different subgroups of patients with AD, as well as developing empirical statistical models that may be useful in studies of future therapies. She attends several international conferences annually and gives oral communications and poster presentations. Wattmo also delivers lectures to physicians and health-care professionals working in the field of dementia, and to local politicians, the general public, and Rotary Club members, among others.

Moderator of 1 Session

 Conference Calendar
SYMPOSIUM

SEX AND GENDER IN NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES

Session Type
SYMPOSIUM
Date
Sun, 20.03.2022
Session Time
11:35 AM - 01:35 PM
Room
ONSITE: 113
Chair(s)

Presenter of 1 Presentation

 Conference Calendar

INTERACTION EFFECT OF SEX AND ONSET OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE—RATES OF PROGRESSION AND PROGNOSIS

Session Name
1990 - SEX AND GENDER IN NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES (ID 103)
Session Type
SYMPOSIUM
Date
Sun, 20.03.2022
Session Time
11:35 AM - 01:35 PM
Room
ONSITE: 113
Lecture Time
11:50 AM - 12:05 PM
Presenter

Abstract

Abstract Body

Objectives: To investigate the interaction effect of sex and early vs. late onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) on long-term cognitive and functional outcomes and survival.

Methods: The Swedish Alzheimer Treatment Study (SATS) is a prospective, observational, multicentre study of clinical practice involving 1,017 participants diagnosed with mild-to-moderate AD at the start of cholinesterase inhibitor treatment. The patients were evaluated using cognitive and functional assessment scales at baseline and semi-annually over 3 years. The date of death was recorded for 20 years.

Results: Women with late-onset AD (LOAD) showed a higher frequency of apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4-carriers than did men with LOAD (71% vs. 58%, p<0.001). This sex difference was not detected in early-onset AD (EOAD). The annual decline in Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale–cognitive subscale was faster in women with EOAD compared with women with LOAD (mean, 95% confidence interval) (5.8, 3.9–7.8 vs. 3.0, 2.3–3.7 points; p=0.013), but this difference was not observed in men. Functional deterioration rates did not differ between the groups. The survival time after AD diagnosis was longer in women with LOAD than in men with LOAD (7.0, 6.7–7.3 vs. 5.4, 5.1–5.8 years; p<0.001), but this sex difference was not found in EOAD.

Conclusions: Women, but not men, with EOAD demonstrated almost twice as fast long-term cognitive decline compared with the LOAD groups. Women with LOAD had a lower education, exhibited a high proportion of APOE ε4-carriers and approximately 50% lived alone. Men with LOAD had a shorter lifespan after diagnosis than did all other patients.

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