Estrogen Therapy May Help Protect Against Alzheimer’s Disease, Study Says

Alzheimer’s dementia is generally more prevalent in women than in men, and doctors believe that one reason why is the sudden drop in estrogen after menopause, which can affect the brain. A new study published in Neurology seems to support this theory. Researchers analyzed the health records of more than 5,000 older women with hysterectomies who had died and had an autopsy of their brains. Those who had received estrogen-only hormone therapy at menopause had 35% lower odds of having the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease, including amyloid plaques, in their brains compared to women who did not receive estrogen. By including the autopsy findings, the results “lend objectivity to the outcome measures,” says Jennifer Bruno, an instructor in psychiatry at Stanford University and one of the co-authors of the study. “Previous studies used cognitive decline or clinical ratings of dementia, which are important for understanding how women are progressing through life, but are not definitive diagnoses of Alzheimer’s and therefore not objective.”Earlier studies of hormone therapy and Alzheimer’s have led to mixed results, with some suggesting a reduced risk of the neurodegenerative disorder and ...