Τίτλος: Women’s Brain-Healthy Ageing
MENTOR- Healthy Ageing Institute

HIWOMB
Hellenic Initiative for Women’s Brain Health

Ελληνική Πρωτοβουλία για την Υγεία του Εγκεφάλου και του Νου των Γυναικών

In Greece 7 out of 10 people with depression are women and 65% of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease are also women, even after taking into account higher female longevity. Women are also more likely to suffer from anxiety, stress, insomnia and other mental discomforts, in addition to hormonal imbalance effects due to the menopause transition. Taking into consideration the multiple social roles of women as caregivers, employees and members of the “sandwich” generation, females are exposed to multiple risk factors for emotional and cognitive distress.
In the context of healthy ageing, the aim of our initiative is to highlight women’s vulnerabilities, to explore and understand the biological risk factors and to proactively support ageing in regard to brain health.
The goal of the “Hellenic Initiative for Women’s Brain Health” is the Proactive Support for Women’s Brain-Healthy lifestyle in Ageing, by addressing the following targets :

• Raise awareness about the factors affecting women’s brain and mental health
• Provide evidenced-based Education on brain health
• Consistent support for regular emotional and cognitive health screenings, in order to enable Early Detection and Prevention, deploy early intervention strategies and develop a strong shield for the safeguard of mental well-being
• Enhance evidence-based lifestyle interventions against the risk of cognitive decline and dementia
• Support and Fund Research initiatives that explore women’s brain ageing. This is a major commitment necessary for a deeper understanding of how sex differences impact brain ageing and the risk for Alzheimer’s, so that we may be guided to develop more targeted, effective and personalized prevention and treatment strategies.

Chair: Prof. Antonis Politis, Psychiatrist, Medical school, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, HIWOMB Scientific coordinator

Presentation of the Hellenic Initiative for Women’s Brain Health: HIWOMB
Mrs. Elena Metaxa, Pharmacist – Pharmaceutical Chemistry & Technology (CTF), HIWOMB Founding member

The role of sex and gender in brain research
Prof. Christina Dalla, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, HIWOMB Scientific Consultant

Open discussion with worldwide experts and with the audience