TUESDAY, March 1, 2022 (HealthDay Information) — Ladies who enter menopause early could also be extra prone to develop dementia later in life, new analysis signifies.
Throughout menopause, manufacturing of the feminine intercourse hormone estrogen drops dramatically and a lady’s intervals come to an finish. Whereas ladies sometimes enter menopause of their early 50s, many achieve this earlier — both naturally or resulting from a medical situation or therapy equivalent to a hysterectomy (removing of the uterus).
This huge examine discovered that ladies within the U.Okay. who entered menopause earlier than age 40 had been 35% extra prone to develop dementia later in life than ladies who began menopause round age 50.
What’s extra, ladies who entered menopause earlier than age 45 had been 1.3 instances extra prone to develop dementia earlier than their sixty fifth birthday, the brand new examine confirmed.
“Ladies with early menopause may have a detailed monitoring of their cognitive decline in medical observe,” stated examine writer Dr. Wenting Hao, a Ph.D. candidate at Shandong College in Jinan, China.
The upper danger for dementia could also be because of the sharp estrogen drop that takes place throughout menopause, Hao stated.
“Estrogen can activate mobile antioxidants equivalent to glutathione, cut back ApoE4, the commonest genetic danger issue within the pathogenesis of dementia, and cut back amyloid plaque deposition within the mind,” she defined.
The build-up of amyloid plaques within the mind is without doubt one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s illness, the commonest sort of dementia.
This doesn’t imply that ladies who begin menopause early are powerless in opposition to dementia, Hao stated.
“Dementia may be prevented, and there are a selection of how ladies who expertise early menopause might be able to cut back their danger of dementia,” he stated. This contains getting common train, taking part in leisure and academic actions, not smoking or utilizing alcohol, and sustaining a wholesome weight, she stated.
For the examine, researchers in contrast age at menopause and dementia prognosis amongst 153,291 ladies (common age: 60) who had been a part of the UK Biobank, a big database of genetic and well being data on individuals residing in the UK. They appeared for all sorts of dementia, together with Alzheimer’s.
Postmenopausal ladies are at better danger of stroke than pre-menopausal ladies, and stroke could trigger vascular dementia, however the examine discovered no hyperlink between age at menopause and the danger of the sort of dementia.
Whereas ladies who entered menopause early had been at larger danger of dementia, those that entered menopause at age 52 or later had comparable charges of dementia as ladies who began menopause at age 50 or 51, the examine confirmed.
The brand new findings held after researchers accounted for different elements which will increase dementia danger, together with age eventually examination, race, training, cigarette and alcohol use, physique fats, coronary heart illness, diabetes, earnings and leisure and bodily actions. The examine didn’t embrace data on whether or not ladies had a household historical past of dementia or if ladies entered menopause early for pure or medical causes, which might have an effect on the findings.
The findings had been offered Tuesday at a gathering of the American Coronary heart Affiliation held in Chicago and on-line. Analysis offered at medical conferences is often thought of preliminary till revealed in a peer-reviewed journal.
These findings are in step with different research displaying a better danger of dementia amongst ladies with untimely or early menopause, stated Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of the North American Menopause Society and director of the Mayo Clinic Heart for Ladies’s Well being.
“The early lack of estrogen is linked with an elevated danger of a number of antagonistic long-term well being outcomes, and dementia is only one of them,” stated Faubion. Others embrace coronary heart illness, brittle bone illness, osteoporosis, temper issues, sexual dysfunction and early demise.
There could also be a job for hormone alternative remedy, she stated.
“Along with suggesting monitoring of those ladies, changing estrogen is a key technique and has been proven to mitigate dementia danger (and different dangers) in ladies with untimely or early menopause,” Faubion stated.
For years, hormone alternative remedy was broadly prescribed to deal with signs of menopause and decrease danger for coronary heart illness, osteoporosis and dementia. This all modified when the landmark Ladies’s Well being Initiative examine confirmed that taking estrogen and progestin after menopause could improve ladies’s danger for stroke, coronary heart illness, blood clots and breast most cancers. (Estrogen helps with menopause signs like scorching flashes and vaginal dryness, and progestin is added to guard in opposition to uterine most cancers in ladies who nonetheless have a uterus.)
In the present day, hormone alternative remedy could also be prescribed within the lowest dose for the shortest period of time to maximise advantages and reduce potential dangers.
Extra data
The Alzheimer’s Affiliation presents tips about stopping dementia.
SOURCES: Wenting Hao, MD, PhD candidate, Shandong College, Jinan, China.; Stephanie Faubion, MD, MBA, director, Heart for Ladies’s Well being, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., and Jacksonville, Fla., and medical director, North American Menopause Society; March 1, 2022, presentation, American Coronary heart Affiliation assembly, Chicago
