A Comparative Study of Cerebral Atherosclerosis in Males and Females

Abstract

An evaluation of the influence of sex upon cerebral atherosclerosis was carried out in 5,033 consecutive autopsies studied by a special well-standardized coding technique. A sex difference in frequency of cerebral atherosclerosis appears from the fourth to the sixth decade. During this period the percentage of female cases with no atherosclerosis lags behind the percentage of male cases by a 15-year period. After the sixth decade, the frequency of cerebral atherosclerosis increases more rapidly in females, so that beyond the age of 65 years the frequency of cerebral atherosclerosis is equal in the two sexes. Furthermore, younger males show a higher degree of cerebral atherosclerosis than females of the same age and a reverse trend appears in the oldest age groups. Diabetic females have more cerebral atherosclerosis than nondiabetic males, and beyond the fourth decade they have at least as much involvement as the diabetic males.