Older women 'twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's than breast cancer'

As women get older, it is well known that the risk of developing breast cancer increases. But a new report from the Alzheimer's Association finds that women in their 60s are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease over the rest of their lives as they are breast cancer.

The report also reveals that a woman's estimated lifetime risk of developing the disease at the age of 65 is 1 in 6, while the risk stands at 1 in 11 for a man.

The "Alzheimer's Association 2014 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures" report involved a survey of 3,102 American adults, which was conducted on the back of a report from 2010 titled, "The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Takes on Alzheimer's."

Around 5 million people in the US have Alzheimer's disease, and approximately 3.2 million of these are women.

According to the report, the most common theory as to why there is a higher prevalence of Alzheimer's among women than men is because women have longer lifespans, meaning they are more likely to reach an age that poses a high risk for the disease.

But this is not the only theory. Past research has suggested that women have different brain structures to men, which puts them at increased risk of cognitive decline or dementia.