Women who take hormone replacement therapy could reduce their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by up to 30 percent — but only if they take the hormones soon after menopause, according to a new paper published online in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
For the study, Peter P. Zandi, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and the lead author, followed 1,768 women ages 65 and older for 11 years. Among that group, 1,105 participants used hormone therapy, classified as either estrogen-only formulations or a combination of estrogen and progestin.
During the course of the study, funded by the National Institute on Aging, 176 women were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia, including 87 of the 1,105 women who took hormone replacement therapy compared with 89 of the 663 who had not.
The authors say this study primarily suggests that timing may be everything when it comes to the potential viability of this treatment, meaning hormone replacement therapy must be used around the same time as women begins menopause rather than after.
But while this research is promising, many prior studies have found hormone replacement therapy may actually increase a woman's risk for developing Alzheimer's-related dementia. Two studies in 2009 that also appeared in Neurology, found taking these drugs may speed up brain tissue loss at a faster rate than an average aging person.
In general, research has shown that women are more risk for Alzheimer's disease. Around 5.4 million Americans are affected with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia, and women outnumber men by 2 to 1, according to a paper published in Journal of Women's Health in September. Studying the gender differences of the disease may be the key to developing better drugs and treatments, said the same study.
Last Updated: 10/25/2012