385: The Truth About Alzheimer’s, Hormones, and Why Women Have a Higher Risk

by Dr. Steven Gundry | Jan 6, 2026 | 0 comments

What if Alzheimer’s isn’t an inevitable fate—especially for women?

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Lisa Mosconi, director of the Women’s Brain Initiative at Weill Cornell Medical College, to challenge one of the most deeply ingrained assumptions in brain health: that Alzheimer’s is largely out of our control.

Drawing from her groundbreaking research and her book The XX Brain, Dr. Mosconi explains why women account for nearly two-thirds of Alzheimer’s cases—and why the reasons have far less to do with bad luck or genetics than most people think.

We explore how the female brain changes across midlife, why menopause is a critical (and often misunderstood) turning point, and how factors like hormones, diet, movement, and medical decisions quietly shape brain health decades before symptoms ever appear.

If you’ve ever felt like Alzheimer’s risk is something you can only react to later in life, this conversation may completely change how you think about your brain—and what you can do to protect it now.

On this episode, you’ll discover:

Why Alzheimer’s affects women at nearly twice the rate of men—and the overlooked reason behind it (0:15)
How estrogen isn’t just about reproduction, but a key protector of the aging female brain (1:35)
The surprisingly early window when Alzheimer’s risk may begin—long before memory problems show up (3:25)
Why hormone replacement therapy is far more nuanced than “good” or “bad,” and who it may actually help (6:55)
The menopause myths that could be quietly increasing long-term cognitive risk (9:00)
What truly drives early menopause—and which everyday habits may accelerate it (13:30)
Why removing reproductive organs can have lifelong brain consequences that many women are never warned about (16:29)
How consistent, low-intensity movement may protect the brain better than extreme workouts (22:02)
Whether Alzheimer’s can really be prevented—or at least meaningfully delayed—and what the science actually shows (28:20)

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