Managing Menopause with This May Be Linked with Higher Alzheimer’s Risk, Says New Report

Menopausal symptoms typically last for around 10 years, according to the Cleveland Clinic, though some women may also experience symptoms for a decade before menopause’s official onset. To combat the night sweats, mood swings, rapid heartrate, weight gain, and more that often occur, women may change their diets or take antidepressants for relief.

However, there’s one common treatment with a 90% symptom relief rate that women turn to, and researchers just linked it to a type of dementia.

A study published in Science Advances in March found that menopausal hormone therapy may result in a higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease due to an increase of tau in their systems. Tau is a protein that can damage neurological function, the Cleveland Clinic explains, and when there’s a build-up of these proteins in the brain, Alzheimer’s symptoms can present.

Researchers examined data about women from the Harvard Aging Brain Study, excluding select participants, such as those with a history of alcoholism or head trauma. Participants exhibited no cognitive impairment when tested during enrollment into the study.

There were 146 participants in total, 73 were women who’d undergone hormonal therapy, while 73 were women who had not. Information about the women’s menopausal hormone therapy was provided by the participants themselves.

During the study, they had at least two PET scans to research tau accumulation for around 3.5 years and the build-up of amyloid beta, another protein linked to Alzheimer’s.

Though there are different types, hormonal therapy, also known as hormone replacement therapy (HRT), works by replacing the hormones the body no longer produces a sufficient supply of due to menopause, says health experts.

Researchers found that women who underwent hormonal therapy possessed a higher amount of tau in the brain’s inferior temporal gyrus—the area of the brain that manages memory, language, and emotion—and experienced cognitive decline. Increased tau accumulation and mental impairment were not seen in participants who did not receive hormonal therapy treatment.

Notably, only women older than 70s years experienced these negative effects.

These results may make it clearer that menopausal hormonal therapy may not be the best course of treatment for all women, especially as they age. However, consistent research shows that in many cases, this remains a safe, viable option for younger women experiencing menopausal symptoms.

Still, the researchers are quick to note that their findings only suggest a correlation between hormone therapy and Alzheimer’s and should not be taken as evidence of cause and effect.

However, any decisions regarding your treatment should be first discussed with your doctor.

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