It was also found that these hormones raise the risk of mental decline in women who do not take the drugs until they are older. These preliminary findings were released in Boston at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.
Dementia is the progressive decline in cognitive function due to damage or disease in the brain beyond what might be expected from normal aging. Particularly affected areas may be memory, attention, language, and problem solving.
Especially in the later stages of the condition, affected persons may be disoriented in time (not knowing what day of the week, day of the month, month, or even what year it is), in place (not knowing where they are), and in person (not knowing who they are).
AP reports that lead researcher Dr. Victor Henderson, of Stanford University, however says it's still too soon to consider putting younger women back on hormones to war off dementia.
There have been contradictory findings about whether HRT protects against diseases of aging. A 2002 study showed higher risks of heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer with estrogen-progestin treatments. Estrogen-only pills were later also linked to stroke.
Following the study, a large number of women gave up the pills, and government experts advised women to use them only for severe menopause symptoms and to take the lowest dose for the shortest time possible.
However, the latest findings focused on 7,153 women and found that women who take hormones before age 65 had dementia risk reduced by nearly half. The apparent beneficial effect was especially strong for Alzheimer's disease, a common form of dementia as experts feel the hormones might help by preserving blood circulation in the brain.
