A new study reveals that although both men and women are both at risk for dementia, women decline faster.

Women were found to develop deficits in mental activity and memory late in life at a faster rate than men with only mild impairment. Statistics show that two-thirds of the five million American’s suffering from Alzheimer’s disease are women, previously leading researchers this was because women live longer than men.

But the authors of this new study presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Washington said that the data from their research did not indicate anything about the causes of gender differences, according to The New York Times.

“All we can say at this point is that there appears to be a faster trajectory for women than men toward dementia,” said Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, a professor of psychiatry at the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences and the study’s senior author.

The new study further confirms that there is a steeper decline in women with mild deficits, but now researchers are saying that this extends up to eight years, when previously, it was only up to one year.

“It’s a very interesting finding, but it’s also still early, so we’re limited in what conclusions we can draw,” said Dr. Edward D. Huey, a geriatric psychiatrist at Columbia University. “I think of this as an excellent hypothesis generator. It’s something we need to investigate more deeply.”

The study analyzed scores on cognitive tests that were taken by a total of 398 women and men in their 70’s. This study was a part of a bigger Alzheimer’s trial that has been going on for many years.

The tests took into consideration factors like age, education and genetic predisposition. They found that women’s scores dropped at an average of twice the rate of men. The team also reviewed how well people functioned at home, at work and with their family which also proved the same results of women’s standard measure of life quality slipping at twice the rate of men.

Even with all of the data gathered, the researchers still did not have a strong enough conclusion that pointed them towards women developing full-blown dementia more and faster than men.

“We will need larger numbers and more time to determine that,” Dr. Doraiswamy said. “But clearly, it is very important to do.”