Estrogen therapy may hold potential in protecting against Alzheimer's disease, according to new research. The study focused on women who received estrogen therapy without progesterone, a combination more commonly prescribed for menopausal symptom relief.
Researchers noted that women who have undergone a hysterectomy, like the participants in this study, can safely be prescribed estrogen alone. This demographic allows for a clearer examination of estrogen's effects, as scientists believe it has broader impacts on the body, including the brain.
Hadi Hosseini, an associate professor of psychiatry at Stanford and a co-author of the study, emphasized that the findings do not establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship between estrogen and Alzheimer's. However, he stated that the results warrant further investigation into the hormone's role in the neurodegenerative disease. Previous studies, such as the Women's Health Initiative, had suggested that combined hormone therapy, including estrogen and progesterone, could negatively impact Alzheimer's risk and memory outcomes.
"These data are bringing awareness to the fact that maybe we need to reconsider some of the previous findings, since we can now look properly at Alzheimer’s disease outcomes, different formulations of hormone therapy, and different times of initiating the therapy, and different durations of use,” Hosseini said. The current research suggests that maintaining hormone levels after menopause might reduce the risk of Alzheimer's, potentially leading to a reconsideration of how hormone therapy is understood and applied in relation to cognitive health.