Women who are at high risk for acquiring Alzheimer’s Dementia may benefit from hormone replacement therapy (HRT), according to a study conducted at the University of East Anglia.
Women who possess the APOE4 gene, the highest risk factor gene for Alzheimer’s disease, benefit the most from HRT usage in terms of improved memory, cognition, and brain volume in old age, according to the research.
This study indicated that HRT was most effective when started during perimenopause, the first stage of menopause.
The increased occurrence in females is likely due to a combination of factors, including longer life expectancy and the fact that menopause has a bigger influence on women than it does on men.
The European Prevention of Alzheimer’s Dementia project was set up to track the mental well-being of its members through time, and the research team analyzed data from 1,178 women who took part in the study.
Over the course of the project’s ten-country scope, brain health was monitored, with some participants eventually receiving a dementia diagnosis. All participants had to be 50 or older without any signs of dementia.
The researchers analyzed their findings to determine how HRT affects women with the APOE4 genotype.
Due of the severe lack of effective medicines for Alzheimer’s disease during the last two decades, this is very essential work. If the benefits of HRT shown in this observational research are replicated in an intervention trial, the result will be a brain age that is several years younger.
Magnetic resonance imaging scans were used to examine links between cognition and brain volume. Cognitive ability and smaller brain sizes are predictors of future risk of dementia, although researchers did not examine instances of dementia.
To verify the effect of early initiation of HRT on cognition and brain health, a randomized controlled trial will need to be conducted as the next step in this study. Assessing the most helpful forms of HRT is also crucial.
