Could hormone replacement therapy be the key to a lower dementia risk for women?
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The number of people living with dementia worldwide is set to nearly triple to 153 million by 2050, making it one of the greatest health threats of our time.
However, according to a new study, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) could play an important role in reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in millions of women around the world.
But how can HRT help women?
Nearly two in three people with Alzheimer’s are female and carry the APOE4 gene, which is the strongest risk factor gene for the disease.
A study led by a team of researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the University of Edinburgh, found evidence suggesting HRT may be the key to preventing the onset of Alzheimer’s in women carrying the APOE4 gene.
The study was published in the Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy journal.
HRT is widely used to control the symptoms and physical changes that take place when women reach the end of their childbearing years. However, the study found that HRT is also associated with better memory, cognitive function, and larger brain volumes in older women with the APOE4 gene.
The researchers shared that the results could be of ‘potential importance’, especially since there are limited medication options for dementia.
Just recently, lecanemab, a drug that is believed to slow down the rate of cognitive decline among patients with early-onset Alzheimer’s, received conditional approval as a new treatment for people with the disease.
Lecanemab is an antibody-based drug that is believed to reduce markers of the amyloid beta – the protein believed to cause Alzheimer’s disease. However, not everyone is thrilled about this conditional approval. You can read more on that here.
Professor Michael Hornberger from UEA’s Norwich Medical School said that it might be ‘too early to say for sure’ if HRT can reduce the dementia risk in women. But he maintained that the results they’ve gathered highlight the importance of HRT and personalised medicine in reducing the risk of the disease.
‘The next stage of this research will be to carry out an intervention trial to confirm the impact of starting HRT early on [with relatively good] cognition and brain health. It will also be important to analyse which types of HRT are most beneficial,’ he continued.
The study also found that HRT was ‘most effective’ when given to women in their perimenopause stage. This is the stage where symptoms build up months or even years before periods stop.
According to the pathophysiology report of one study, cognitive deficits have been described in ‘women during the menopausal transition’. In particular, it affected the patients’ working memory, attention, and processing speed, and reduced their verbal memory. The study’s hypothesis revealed that oestrogen might exert an important and ‘protective’ effect on the deterioration of cognitive functions.
‘In addition to living longer, the reason behind the higher female prevalence is thought to be related to the effects of menopause and the impact of the APOE4 genetic risk factor being greater in women,’ said Professor Anne-Marie Minihane from Norwich Medical School.
‘We wanted to find out whether HRT could prevent cognitive decline in at-risk APOE4 carriers,’ she continued.
The researchers analysed data collected from 1,178 women who took part in the European Prevention of Alzheimer’s Dementia initiative. The initiative tracked the brains of 1,906 people over 50 from 10 countries. All of them did not have dementia at the start of the project.
The researchers collected the results of their cognitive tests and brain volumes, as recorded by their MRI scans. And those findings revealed that APOE4 carriers who used HRT had better cognitive abilities and higher brain volumes than people who are not on HRT and non-APOE4 carriers.
What do you think about this study, members? Please share your thoughts in the comments below! We found it very interesting.
However, according to a new study, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) could play an important role in reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in millions of women around the world.
But how can HRT help women?
Nearly two in three people with Alzheimer’s are female and carry the APOE4 gene, which is the strongest risk factor gene for the disease.
A study led by a team of researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the University of Edinburgh, found evidence suggesting HRT may be the key to preventing the onset of Alzheimer’s in women carrying the APOE4 gene.
The study was published in the Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy journal.
Experts believe that their findings are an important discovery. Credit: Pixabay/Pexels
HRT is widely used to control the symptoms and physical changes that take place when women reach the end of their childbearing years. However, the study found that HRT is also associated with better memory, cognitive function, and larger brain volumes in older women with the APOE4 gene.
The researchers shared that the results could be of ‘potential importance’, especially since there are limited medication options for dementia.
Just recently, lecanemab, a drug that is believed to slow down the rate of cognitive decline among patients with early-onset Alzheimer’s, received conditional approval as a new treatment for people with the disease.
Lecanemab is an antibody-based drug that is believed to reduce markers of the amyloid beta – the protein believed to cause Alzheimer’s disease. However, not everyone is thrilled about this conditional approval. You can read more on that here.
Researchers need more time to carry out the next phase of their study. Credit: cottonbro studio/Pexels
Professor Michael Hornberger from UEA’s Norwich Medical School said that it might be ‘too early to say for sure’ if HRT can reduce the dementia risk in women. But he maintained that the results they’ve gathered highlight the importance of HRT and personalised medicine in reducing the risk of the disease.
‘The next stage of this research will be to carry out an intervention trial to confirm the impact of starting HRT early on [with relatively good] cognition and brain health. It will also be important to analyse which types of HRT are most beneficial,’ he continued.
The study also found that HRT was ‘most effective’ when given to women in their perimenopause stage. This is the stage where symptoms build up months or even years before periods stop.
According to the pathophysiology report of one study, cognitive deficits have been described in ‘women during the menopausal transition’. In particular, it affected the patients’ working memory, attention, and processing speed, and reduced their verbal memory. The study’s hypothesis revealed that oestrogen might exert an important and ‘protective’ effect on the deterioration of cognitive functions.
‘In addition to living longer, the reason behind the higher female prevalence is thought to be related to the effects of menopause and the impact of the APOE4 genetic risk factor being greater in women,’ said Professor Anne-Marie Minihane from Norwich Medical School.
‘We wanted to find out whether HRT could prevent cognitive decline in at-risk APOE4 carriers,’ she continued.
This study could be a big step towards finding the cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Credit: Etatics Inc./Pexels
The researchers analysed data collected from 1,178 women who took part in the European Prevention of Alzheimer’s Dementia initiative. The initiative tracked the brains of 1,906 people over 50 from 10 countries. All of them did not have dementia at the start of the project.
The researchers collected the results of their cognitive tests and brain volumes, as recorded by their MRI scans. And those findings revealed that APOE4 carriers who used HRT had better cognitive abilities and higher brain volumes than people who are not on HRT and non-APOE4 carriers.
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