Intended for healthcare professionals

Minerva

Minerva

BMJ 2009; 338 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b62 (Published 13 January 2009) Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b62

New evidence suggests that women may be more at risk than men of Alzheimer’s disease, say US researchers. They have found a genetic variant on the X chromosome that is significantly associated with an increased risk of the disease and is almost entirely restricted to women. The gene in question is called PCDH11X, and it encodes a protein called a protocadherin, which is part of a family of molecules that promote adhesion of cells and signalling in the central nervous system (Nature Genetics published online 11 Jan 2009, doi:10.1038/ng.305).

Breast care nurses are perceived as equally supportive to depressed and non-depressed patients, but surgeons and ward nurses are perceived as less supportive to depressed patients (Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England 2009;91:43-5, doi:10.1308/003588409X359006). A study found evidence of depression in 31 (9%) of the 355 participating women, two to four days after undergoing mastectomy or wide local excision for breast cancer. The findings confirm …

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