The Current - Why is Europe getting warmer faster?

Episode Date: August 15, 2025

Southern Europe is in the grip of another summer of extreme heat, with temperatures soaring to record highs and wildfires burning across the region. The Guardian’s Ajit Niranjan explains why Europe is heating faster than other continents, and what that means for people on the ground. Then, University of Waterloo’s Daniel Scott on how the tourism industry is adapting to rising temperatures and why more travellers are booking “cool-cations” in cooler destinations.

Guess who just bundled their home and auto with Desjardin insurance? Well, look at you, all grown up and saving money. Yes, I am. Mom told you to do it, didn't she? Yes, she did. Get insurance that's really big on care. Switch and you could save up to 35% on home insurance when you bundle home and auto. Dejardin Insurance, here for your home, auto, life, and business needs.

Certain conditions apply. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. In Canada, almost 800,000 people are living with dementia. The most common type is Alzheimer's disease, which afflicts more women than men. Two-thirds of the diagnoses are in women. Scientists believe that was because women tend to live longer, but new research is finding other risk factors as well,

both biological and sociological. And they hope this new understanding will lead to better prevention of Alzheimer's and women. I'll be speaking to two Canadian scientists conducting that research. But first, I'm joined by Faye Weimar. For more than 10 years, she was the primary caregiver to her mother who had dementia. And she volunteers with the Alzheimer Society of Canada. Good morning, Faye. Good morning.

I'm so sorry for your recent loss. When you found out your mom was first diagnosed, what was that like for you? you? It was actually really challenging because that was something that we had never talked about and never really prepared for, but because the journey of dementia is so gradual, it wasn't really something that I understood the implications for when I became her primary caregiver and how those needs were. would grow over the years. How quickly did you realize that you may have been in over your head?

Well, the situation that led to my mom living with me, my dad had passed away suddenly and he had been caring for her. She was still in the very early stages of dementia. So she was able to dress herself and make small meals herself, but she couldn't live alone. So after he passed, she moved in with us and I had a, my son was only two at the time. And I thought it would be a great idea for them to grow up together and he would know his Lola. But as her dementia progressed, he couldn't understand what was happening to her, what was happening to our family. And after a few years, I realized I am not a health care worker.

I had no training at all. And I was given a lot of resources by doctors, by the local. Alzheimer's Society, but I just never felt like I had no time to read them. I was working. I was taking care of my family. And it was hard to have that balance. And so as she hit the middle stages, I guess, of her dementia journey, I realized I was burning out quickly. How difficult was it not only caregiving for your mom, but also watching the dementia take take over? It was really difficult to witness that because in the back of my mind, I'm always thinking this might happen to me and this might affect my son the way it's affecting me right now. So

it was pretty scary. Yeah, and it's changed how you look at your own health now, I understand. What are you considering at this point in your life? I was looking at the ways that my mom sort of lived her life and I've made I made some changes like over the years I've paid close attention to the research or breakthroughs on Alzheimer's and dementia and I do things differently I make movement a part of my life whether it's at the gym or walking my dog or dancing I protect my sleep and that's really hard for me because I'm a night owl and I really work at keeping my friendships alive I think that social connection is really important watching my mom after my dad passed and seeing her withdraw become isolated.

She was depressed and it made me realize how much our brains need that connection, both socially, culturally, and that's something that I try to do, connect with new friends, stay in touch with old friends, and I think that's really going to help me. Yeah. Is it something you think a lot about? It certainly sounds like you do, as if your experience with your mother has really put this to the forefront for you. Yeah, absolutely. I'm always thinking about how it's going to affect my son as I get older. And he's actually started making a list.

I said, okay, if I can't think for myself, this is the music I like. And these are the movies I like to watch. Just have them in the background somewhere. So I guess I'm always planning for the future. I'm trying to train my hands to remember. how to do things like draw and crochet so that I know what to do as I start losing that cognitive ability. I'm hoping, I don't know, muscle memory kicks in. And your son, how old is he now? He's 14, though. And he already knows is well-versed, it sounds like, in Alzheimer's and

dementia. Yeah, because he's grown up with it, with my mom living with us for so long, for most, yeah, for most of his childhood. He's seen the changes. He's seen me frustrated. And I try to have open conversations with him so that he understands what's happening. And to the best of my ability, you can only do so much when I'm not a researcher. And like I said, my background isn't in health at all. But I just try to make them understand. It's a noble thing to do, Faye. And I'm sorry for your loss again, but thank you for telling your story this morning.

Thank you for that. Thank you. Faye Wima was the primary caregiver to her mother who had dementia. Guess who just bundled their home and auto with Desjardin insurance? Well, look at you, all grown up and saving money. Yes, I am. Mom told you to do it, didn't she? Yes, she did.

Get insurance that's really big on care. Switch and you could save up to 35% on home insurance when you bundle home and auto. Dejardin Insurance. Here for your home, auto, life, and business needs. Certain conditions apply. On the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz comes an unprecedented exhibition about one of history's darkest moments. Auschwitz, not long ago, not far away,

features more than 500 original objects, first-hand accounts, and survivor testimonies that tell the powerful story of the Auschwitz concentration camp, its history and legacy and the underlying conditions that allowed the Holocaust to happen. On now exclusively at ROM. Tickets at ROM.ca. Brain health is top of mind for people who are aging, or like Faye, looked after loved ones with Alzheimer's. And researchers in Canada are investigating why women are disproportionately impacted by Alzheimer's. Jillian Einstein is a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and the Wilfred and Joyce Poulson's, Posselin's Chair in Women's Brain Health

and aging. She's also the head of the Sex and Gender Hub of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration and Aging. And Natasha Rajah is the Canada Research Chair in Sex, Gender, and Diversity in Brain Health Memory and Aging at Toronto Metropolitan University. She's currently conducting the Canadian Brain Health at Midlife and Menopause Study. Good morning to you both. Good morning. Jillian, I'll start with you. What are we learning about the connection between women and Alzheimer's and the risk factors that women might have? We're learning that, first of all, Alzheimer's disease starts much earlier in life than we've ever thought before, and that in my lab, we study the earliest risk factors, even in women's

30s, that will help us understand what kinds of interventions and when to intervene will be most successful. We're learning, first of all, that early life estrogen loss or estradiol loss is a really key element in how women's brains age. So women who, for example, have their ovaries removed prior to when they would naturally go into menopause are at higher risk for late life Alzheimer's disease than women who keep their ovaries. We also know that there are many different ways to go into menopause and have a loss of estradiol early in life. And these are important, very important areas to study.

I think one of the most exciting developments, we don't study it, but one of the most exciting developments right now is trying to understand how the X chromosome itself, which women have two X chromosomes, men have an X and a Y, exactly what those extra X genes are doing for women. And I think that's going to be very exciting with respect to resilience and also potentially with respect to risk. I just want to add in that, you know, phase experience of caregiving is also an extremely important and possible reason why women might have Alzheimer's disease more than men. And the social factors are incredibly important

and the stress of any kind of caregiving, which is mostly done by women, may well be a very important risk factor. I want to talk a whole lot more about all of that research. But Jillian, just firstly, and maybe the answer is obvious to women, but why are we only learning about this now? You know, that's the $64,000 question, but I really think it's because for so long, scientists thought that male systems were easier, with quotation marks around the easier,

to study. Males, animals, and humans don't have a menstrual cycle that you have to take into account. They don't go through menopause, really. Andropause is a very small aspect, I would say, of males' endocrinological life or the life of their hormones. And I just think it was easier. It was probably less expensive. You might think you'd need twice as many animals if you had to study females as well. But it's really crippled, I think, our understanding of Alzheimer's disease, including current treatments.

because the animals that the treatments are developed in are mostly males. And then they go out to be tested in both males and females. But in that case, the effect of the drug isn't studied by sex. It's actually both the males and the females, their responses are all combined together. And then sex is taken out of the equation. so we never know really in well-powered or studies that have enough people in them what the relative effects of the drugs are. Okay, so Natasha, we're in this new world where we realize we should be studying women.

So you're studying women's brain health at midlife and menopause. Tell us more about that transition period and how it relates to memory loss. Sure. So as Jillian already spoke, hi, Jillian. Hi, Natasha. So as we know, estrogen declines. either through surgical menopause, which Gillian studies, or through spontaneous menopause, which is what I study, is related to an increase in the prevalence of multiple risk factors

for dementia in general and Alzheimer's as well, such as vascular risk factors. So when estrogen really helps with both heart health and brain health, and so when you have a decline in ovarian estrogens at menopause, you disrupt cardiovascular function, and you see an increase in vascular risk factors, which has an influence on the blood flow and risk factors for like endothelial dysfunction, arterialiscovosis, and all sorts of things. You have an increased risk for that after menopause. We also know that the brain has receptors for esterdial, and so, you know, the brain really needs to reorganize itself when there's a decline in estrogens available both peripherally and centrally. And so in this study, the Canadian

BAM study, we're trying to understand how the female brain really accommodates for those quite remarkable changes that are happening endocrinologically at this time, and understanding why some females, this leads to an increase in vascular risk factors and possibly risk for dementia later in life, and why other females are resilient to this. And one of the factors we're looking at is whether a female has an apollo protein, epsilon, e. for allele. So APOE is a gene that codes for the protein, Apollo protein, that's important for lipid metabolism. And this has also been linked to hyperlipidemia and vascular dysfunction in adults. So there seems to be a link. And that's what we're interested in understanding,

that interaction between having this gene, being in menopause, and how this relates to vascular and brain health. And could it be as simple, Natasha, is having a test to discover if you have that gene, and then you would know that you're at higher risk? There are tests available for APOE gene, and there's a lot of debate about whether you should be tested or not ethically, because currently there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, and there is no treatment for early Alzheimer's disease yet, like in your midlife or in your 50s. The drugs that are available haven't necessarily been approved for that, but it is important that if you do find out in your midlife that you have these genes, that there are.

lifestyle factors that you could adjust and you could work on improving your vascular health as well. Gillian Anderson researchers at Mass General Hospital and Harvard Medical School studied women in their 70s who had taken hormone replacement therapy and they found a link with the brain protein tau

which is a key biomarker for Alzheimer's. Jillian Cochlin is one of the researchers. Have a listen here. In older women, the women who took the hormone therapy tended to have a higher risk of accumulating to how over time relative to the women who hadn't taken hormone therapy. We did not see that in the younger population of women.

And so if we know that sex hormones play an important role in the aging brain, then we can use and try and manipulate sex hormones as a potential treatment. So, Gillian, what do we know about hormone replacement therapy or HRT and how it might help or perhaps further decline your cognitive health? well we know it's more complicated than we ever thought before i believe the study that julian cochrane participated in actually went back to an earlier study that produced a database called the women's uh the women's health initiative and um in that study they recruited women 65 years and older into the study, and they gave them a particular type of hormone replacement

called conjugated equine horse estrogen. And it also had another hormone in it called progestin, a progestin, which is a synthetic progesterone, and of a type that has now been shown to have very negative effects on breast and bone and brain. And so I think what they're really showing in that study is that women who start hormone replacement late in life, long after spontaneous menopause, they are the ones who have this increased amount of the biomarker cow in their brain. So it tells us that the window for hormone,

therapy may be a more narrow window than we thought before and earlier it sounds like and earlier and we also need to think about what kind of hormone is being given there are many different types of estrogens some of them synthetic some of them of the type that your body makes so for example in our study of women between the ages of 35 and 45 who've had their ovaries removed If they start a hormone therapy that uses a type of endogenous hormone estradiol, and it's coupled with a progesterone, a natural progesterone, this actually improves a number of areas of cognition as well as structural brain components, especially in a part of the brain that makes new memories called the hippocampus.

So we know that in young women who have their ovaries removed prior to spontaneous or natural menopause, estradiol therapy seems to be extremely helpful. Okay. Natasha, what is your advice on what we can do to reduce cognitive brain decline and keep our brains healthy when you're a woman? So there's been a recent finding from the U.S. pointer study that was announced at the AIC meeting this past month in Toronto. And it really pointed to a healthy lifestyle. So improving your vascular health by both diet and exercise,

that's a great way to improve your general health both physically and in your brain. So the brain is connected to the body. And if your body is healthy, it will improve the health of your brain. So I think that's very important. I also think, you know, if you are experiencing hot flashes and brain fog and, you know, deleterious effects of menopause transition and early menopause, it is worth talking to your doctor about whether menopause hormone therapy is an option for you. There's a lot of things that you need to consider before you consider taking those medications such as your family history of cardiovascular risk and stroke risk and family history of breast cancer. And other.

but, you know, this is an individual choice, and I think it's important that women are aware and have, can make that choice for themselves about how to take care of themselves during this midlife transition. Jillian, as we're just starting to learn, sorry, I'll let you come in here, but we only have about a minute left, but I just, as we wrap up here, you know, as we're just learning more about this and the research is just finally entering this space, is there, what more do you hope to discover in the years to follow on how menopause and hormones relate to, Alzheimer's and women. Well, I'm interested in menopause for sure. I think one of the areas that we'd really, I'd like to understand much better and hope to, is what kind of hormone cocktail is actually a helpful cocktail. So we've been giving different types of hormones to women now for, you know, over 50 years, probably closer to 75 years without any thought to the actual effects of specific

types of estrogens and specific types of progesterones. And I think it's really important that we consider that. I do want to say that I think Faye is doing everything right. I was so impressed listening to her and the things that she's doing, increasing social connection, being sure that she gets exercise and sleep, just as Natasha said, these are all really important midlife activities. And she's on, I think she's on the ball. I also wanted to say with respect to to hot flashes. There are new drugs now on the market that only treat hot flashes, and that's also worth discussing with your physician. Okay. We've run out of time, a fascinating discussion. Jillian and Natasha, thank you so much for this. You're very welcome. Thank you for inviting me.

Thank you. Jillian Einstein is a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, and Wilford and Joyce Postlin's Chair in Women's Brain Health and Aging. And Natasha Raja is the Canada research chair in sex, gender, and diversity in brain health memory and aging at Toronto Metropolitan University. You've been listening to the current podcast. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you soon. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca slash podcasts.