TUESDAY, March 1, 2022 (HealthDay Information) — Girls 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 girl’s durations come to an finish. Whereas ladies usually enter menopause of their early 50s, many achieve this earlier — both naturally or on account of a medical situation or therapy reminiscent of a hysterectomy (elimination of the uterus).
This massive research discovered that girls within the U.Ok. 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 occasions extra prone to develop dementia earlier than their sixty fifth birthday, the brand new research confirmed.
“Girls with early menopause might have a detailed monitoring of their cognitive decline in scientific follow,” mentioned research 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 mentioned.
“Estrogen can activate mobile antioxidants reminiscent of glutathione, scale back ApoE4, the most typical genetic danger issue within the pathogenesis of dementia, and scale 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 most typical kind of dementia.
This doesn’t imply that girls who begin menopause early are powerless in opposition to dementia, Hao mentioned.
“Dementia could be prevented, and there are a selection of how ladies who expertise early menopause could possibly scale back their danger of dementia,” he mentioned. This consists of getting common train, taking part in leisure and academic actions, not smoking or utilizing alcohol, and sustaining a wholesome weight, she mentioned.
For the research, researchers in contrast age at menopause and dementia analysis 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 dwelling in the UK. They seemed for every type of dementia, together with Alzheimer’s.
Postmenopausal ladies are at higher danger of stroke than pre-menopausal ladies, and stroke might trigger vascular dementia, however the research discovered no hyperlink between age at menopause and the chance of this sort of dementia.
Whereas ladies who entered menopause early had been at greater 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 research confirmed.
The brand new findings held after researchers accounted for different components which will increase dementia danger, together with age ultimately examination, race, schooling, cigarette and alcohol use, physique fats, coronary heart illness, diabetes, earnings and leisure and bodily actions. The research 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 may have an effect on the findings.
The findings had been introduced Tuesday at a gathering of the American Coronary heart Affiliation held in Chicago and on-line. Analysis introduced at medical conferences is usually thought-about preliminary till revealed in a peer-reviewed journal.
These findings are per different research displaying a higher danger of dementia amongst ladies with untimely or early menopause, mentioned Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of the North American Menopause Society and director of the Mayo Clinic Middle for Girls’s Well being.
“The early lack of estrogen is linked with an elevated danger of a number of adversarial long-term well being outcomes, and dementia is only one of them,” mentioned Faubion. Others embrace coronary heart illness, brittle bone illness, osteoporosis, temper issues, sexual dysfunction and early dying.
There could also be a task for hormone alternative remedy, she mentioned.
“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 mentioned.
For years, hormone alternative remedy was extensively prescribed to deal with signs of menopause and decrease danger for coronary heart illness, osteoporosis and dementia. This all modified when the landmark Girls’s Well being Initiative research confirmed that taking estrogen and progestin after menopause might 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.)
As we speak, 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 gives tips about stopping dementia.
SOURCES: Wenting Hao, MD, PhD candidate, Shandong College, Jinan, China.; Stephanie Faubion, MD, MBA, director, Middle for Girls’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
