Dementia Risks Vary by Menopause Hormone Therapy Timing, Study Shows
Across nearly 185,000 postmenopausal women in the UK Biobank, HRT use over 13 years of follow-up was associated with a lower risk of all-cause dementia, about 10% lower overall. The link looked strongest for women starting between ages 46 and 56, with a clearer signal in the 51 to 56 group than in the 46 to 50 group. Associations also showed up in women who had surgical menopause, in APOE4 carriers and in those with lower lifetime oestrogen exposure. The authors call it the largest study of its kind, and it echoes earlier work on oestrogen-only therapy and Alzheimer's risk. Because women were followed rather than randomly assigned, this shows a link rather than cause and effect.
For you: If HRT is already on the table for menopause symptoms, this is a reason to talk about timing as well as symptoms, while remembering the study cannot show HRT itself prevents dementia.
What it shows: Reported by MedPage Today and not verified by us: we could not trace this story to a published paper, so treat it as news rather than evidence we have checked.