Alzheimer’s risk soars if women have big family

WOMEN who have more than five children are 70 per cent more likely to have Alzheimer’s later in life than those with smaller families, research has found.

The study of 3,549 71-year-olds from South Korea and Greece also found those who had a miscarriage or abortion were half as likely to develop Alzheimer’s.

The women provided information on their reproductive history and took tests of their memory and thinking skills.

The researchers from Seoul National University in South Korea said a number of factors could be responsible, including a surge in the hormone oestrogen, which may be protective in smaller doses but harmful in very large amounts.

But Dr Doug Brown, of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘This research shouldn’t give women who’ve given birth several times any cause for concern.’