Posted on 09/27/2023 4:11:28 PM PDT by Morgana
Women who have had several children could be at a reduced risk of dementia, research suggests.
Experts have discovered that higher exposure to oestrogen throughout a woman's life could lead to a healthier brain.
Those with a longer 'reproductive lifespan', or who have had several children, accumulate a higher exposure to the hormone.
This appears to lead to a lower risk of cerebral small vessel disease – a condition that results from damage to small blood vessels in the brain and is linked to cognitive impairment and dementia.
Researchers analysed 9,000 postmenopausal women with an average age of 64 living in the UK.
Participants answered questions on reproductive health including their age at their first period, when they started the menopause and their number of pregnancies.
They also had brain scans to look for cerebral small vessel disease.
The scientists calculated lifetime hormone exposure by adding the number of years women were pregnant to the duration of their reproductive lifespan, which is the number of years between first menstruation and menopause.
The average lifetime hormone exposure was 40 years. Analysis revealed those with a higher lifetime hormone exposure had lower white matter hyperintensity volumes – an indicator of cerebral small vessel disease.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
This appears to lead to a lower risk of cerebral small vessel disease ...
Not Lewy Body dementia, not Alzheimer's.
Thanks, that’s an interesting study. One less thing to worry about ...
Also, the mental challenges of keeping up with more kids.
Great grandma had 5 kids. Suffered severe dementia.
Grandmother had three. Suffered same.
Sounds like a degreed idiot offered this opinion.
Ah, thanks. Years ago I think they called it hardening of the arteries. I could be wrong again though.
I don’t know. It’s clear from the article, though, that the observation is limited. There are different causes of dementia, and the effects of estrogen reduce the incidence of *one* kind.
The problem is that today it’s Mary Poppins, but tomorrow it’s velociraptors. 😅
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