# Pregnancy complications and the development of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in women in the Adult Changes in Thought study

> **NIH NIH R21** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2020 · $316,973

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Alzheimer's disease and its related dementias (ADRD) are diseases with extended latency periods and no
effective treatments. Vascular disease from midlife is recognized as a major contributor to ADRD, and
represents a promising target for early intervention. Sex-specific risk factors are of particular interest, since
older women are more likely to experience ADRD onset and live more years with dementia than men.
 Preeclampsia (PEC) and other pregnancy complications (PC), including preterm birth, fetal growth
restriction, and stillbirth, are early adulthood markers of maternal cardiovascular risk. A history of PEC has
been associated with a higher risk of chronic hypertension, stroke, heart failure and cognitive impairment later
in life, and a higher burden of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) on MRI 5 to 15 years after pregnancy in
these women. However, data are lacking regarding the effects of PEC and other PC on the development of
clinical ADRD and ADRD-related neuroradiological and neuropathological lesions.
 The Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) study has enrolled participants since 1986 and is a living,
learning laboratory of aging research, set within an integrated health care delivery system in Western
Washington. ACT's unique setting allows for unparalleled linkages to administrative, pharmacy, clinical
laboratory, billing, and abstracted medical records data, extending back as far as 1950. In the US, ACT is
unmatched in its ability to combine detailed life-course exposure data with world-class clinical dementia
diagnoses, neuroradiological, and neuropathology measures. Our overall goals are to: 1) augment existing
reproductive phenotypic data in the ACT study with detailed obstetric phenotyping, and 2) explore the
association between mid-life PC and development of ADRD in women.
 This would be the first longitudinal study to explore the association of PC with clinical ADRD and related
neuroradiological and neuropathological lesions in women. We will create a new, unparalleled resource for
researchers to test a wide range of hypotheses regarding the effects of sex-specific exposures, from early
adulthood to midlife, on ADRD in women. Identifying functional and structural ADRD-related changes in
women with a history of PC could help us identify women early in life who are at risk of ADRD, and develop
preventive strategies to thwart or slow the progression of cognitive decline in this vulnerable population.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10055554
- **Project number:** 1R21AG069111-01
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Eliza C Miller
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $316,973
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-30 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10055554

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10055554, Pregnancy complications and the development of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in women in the Adult Changes in Thought study (1R21AG069111-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10055554. Licensed CC0.

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