Estrogen has a significant role in overall brain health and cognitive function.
That’s why so many studies focused on the prevention of cognitive decline consider the effect of reduced estrogen levels during the menopause transition.
In a new study, researchers found a cognitive benefit from a longer reproductive window complemented with hormone therapy.
Because women comprise two-thirds of the 5.5 million cases of Alzheimer’s disease in the United States, researchers have long suspected that sex-specific factors such as estrogen may contribute to women’s increased risk for the disease.
Many studies have previously suggested a role for estrogen in promoting memory and learning.
In this study, the team examined more than 2,000 postmenopausal women and followed them over a 12-year period to see the association between estrogen and cognitive decline.
More specifically, they focused on the duration of a woman’s exposure to estrogen, taking into account such factors as time of menarche to menopause, number of pregnancies, duration of breastfeeding, and use of hormone therapy.
The researchers found that a longer duration of estrogen exposure is linked to better cognitive status in older adult women.
Furthermore, they found that these beneficial effects are extended with the use of hormone therapy, especially in the oldest women in the sample.
Women who initiated hormone therapy earlier showed higher cognitive test scores than those who started taking hormones later, providing some support for the critical window hypothesis of hormone therapy.
Although the assessment of the risk-to-benefit balance of hormone therapy use is complicated and must be individualized, this study provides additional evidence for beneficial cognitive effects of hormone therapy, particularly when initiated early after menopause.
This study also underscores the potential adverse effects of early estrogen deprivation on cognitive health in the setting of premature or early menopause without adequate estrogen replacement.
The study is published in Menopause.
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