Hormone therapy for menopause has virtually no link to dementia risk

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is considered a reliable way not only to make menopause easier, but also to delay it. Pills with estrogen and progesterone allow you to receive sex hormones from outside, which the ovaries can no longer produce in the required quantities. HRT relieves unpleasant menopausal symptoms - hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings - after just a few weeks of use and helps prevent the negative impact of menopause on the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems.

In their publication, the University of Nottingham scientists mentioned that previous studies linking HRT to an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease have produced conflicting results. This leads to some women being afraid to start treatment.

To confirm or refute this theory, scientists analyzed the medical records of 118,000 women aged 55 and over in the UK who were diagnosed with dementia between 1998 and 2020. Data from 497,000 women in the same age group but without the disease were included in the control group for comparison.

The results showed that the overall risk of dementia was the same in both groups: 14%. However, the scientists also found that the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease is slightly increased in women who take estrogen and progestogen therapy for five to nine years or longer. But this risk is so small that it cannot be a reason to stop taking the drugs - 5 and 7 additional cases of dementia per 10,000 women, respectively.

"The likelihood is very small and we cannot say for sure that it is caused by hormone replacement therapy. This should not be a concern for patients taking these drugs," said Yana Vinogradova, a senior research fellow in primary care at the University of Nottingham and a co-author of the study.