Further evidence on HRT usage and dementia documented in study findings
An observational study published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia has shown that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may reduce the risk of developing dementia.
Researchers tracked over 180,000 postmenopausal women in the UK over 13 years using data from the UK Biobank. They found that those who had used HRT were 10% less likely to develop any type of dementia and 16% less likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s compared with those who had never used HRT (there was an association found between HRT use and women who carried the Apoe4 gene variant, the main risk gene for Alzheimer’s disease). Women who had undergone a surgical menopause had a 26% lower risk of developing any type of dementia compared with non‑HRT users.
Study lead, Prof Anne-Marie Minihane, Director of the Norwich Institute for Healthy Ageing at the University of East Anglia, says:
“While HRT has long been prescribed primarily to relieve menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats, this work suggests it may also play a role in long‑term cognitive health for some women.”
You can read the study here: https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/alz.71679
Further coverage of research related to HRT can be found here: https://journalofdementiacare.co.uk/?s=HRT