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Hormone Therapy May Curb Women's Memory Decline
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THURSDAY, Nov. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Hormone therapy may help postmenopausal women keep their memory sharp, a University of Michigan Health System study finds. Many women suffer memory declines during and after menopause due, in part, to the major hormonal changes they experience, the U-M researchers noted. They found that postmenopausal women taking hormone therapy showed more brain activity during a visual memory test than women who weren''t taking hormone therapy. The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. The study included 10 postmenopausal women, ages 50-60, who received either combined estrogen-progestin hormone therapy or a placebo for four weeks. This was followed by a month with no medications and then four weeks of the other treatment. While the women did visual memory tests, their brain activity was monitored with functional MRI (fMRI). Women taking hormone therapy showed much more activity in the prefrontal cortex -- a region of the brain that plays a major role in memory tasks -- than women taking the placebo. "Our findings suggest that even relatively short periods of hormone therapy have effects on the memory systems that may be of benefit to some women during the perimenopausal transition or early menopause," study lead author Dr. Yolanda R. Smith, associate professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the U-M Medical School, said in a prepared statement. "Other studies have indicated that long-term hormone therapy is not beneficial for the prevention of chronic illness. But our study indicates that the effects of short-term hormone therapy on brain circuitry and function warrant further study," Smith said. This study was partly funded by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Group, and some of the researchers have received consulting/lecture fees from other drug makers. More information The U.S. National Women''s Health Information Center has more about menopause.
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