Posted on 04/04/2023 7:54:31 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Women are more likely than men to develop Alzheimer's disease (AD), with women making up two-thirds of the population living with AD. A new study sheds light on the relationship between the risk of Alzheimer's disease and age of menopause and use of hormone therapy (HT). The results indicate that early age at menopause may be a risk factor for AD dementia, but that women who were prescribed HT around the age of menopause onset did not show increased risk.
"We found that the highest levels of tau, a protein involved in Alzheimer's disease, were only observed in hormone therapy users who reported a long delay between age at menopause onset and their initiation of hormone therapy."
HT improves many severe symptoms related to menopause and has been hypothesized to also prevent cognitive impairment.
However, two decades ago, the seminal Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study found that HT use was associated with a nearly two-fold higher incidence of dementia compared to a placebo among women aged 65 years and older, possibly due to the initiation of HT many years after menopause onset.
"When it comes to hormone therapy, timing is everything," said JoAnn Manson, MD, MPH, DrPH. "Our previous findings from the WHI suggested that starting HT early in menopause, rather than late initiation, provides better outcomes for heart disease, cognitive function, and all-cause mortality—and this study suggests that the same is true for tau deposition."
Given that many women who undergo premature menopause use HT, the researchers examined whether HT use was associated with β-amyloid and tau. While they did confirm this association, they observed that late initiation of HT—five years or more after menopause—drove this relationship. Many women in the late-HT-initiation group began HT close to a decade after menopause.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
I do know hormone therapy seems to have net benefits until age 60, from a prior study.
Was this statement adjusted to reflect the fact that women in the U.S. have a greater life expectancy than men?
Not as many men contract AD - because they die first!
Regards,
Yes, at the same age women are worse.
It’s in the article.
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