Scientists find surprising link between dementia and medication increasingly used by women

A new scientific study has generated promising results for the prevention of dementia and Alzheimer's.

Scientists have found that hormone replacement therapy, often referred to as HRT may in face reduce the risk of developing dementia.

The researchers carried out the largest study of its kind, assessing the data from over 180,000 post-menopausal women.

Their results revealed that women who take HRT were '10 percent less likely' to develop any type of dementia.

However they also found that the women using the medication are '16 percent less likely' to receive an Alzheimer's diagnosis, compared to women who have never used HRT.

According to the NHS, HRT is used to help menopause symptoms as it places the hormones oestrogen and progesterone, which fall to low levels as you approach the menopause.

Scientists have found a positive link between HRT and the reduction in dementia (Getty Stock)

It can help with such symptoms as hot flushes, night sweats, sleep problems, mood swings, and anxiety and low mood.

The findings have been published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

Researchers found the highest rate of reduction for developing dementia, at 26 percent, was for women using HRT who had undergone surgical menopause.

The research was carried out by the Norwich Institute for Healthy Ageing at the University of East Anglia.

Prof Anne-Marie Minihane is the director of the Institute, and she said that in addition to easing the menopausal symptoms, 'this work suggests it may also play a role in long‑term cognitive health for some women.'

They added that women are at a higher risk of developing dementia than men are, because they tend to live for longer.

Minihane said: “We wanted to better understand how HRT could prevent dementia and to assess if particular groups of women may respond differently.”

The scientists used the data from the UK Biobank to track the women over an average of 13 years.

The data looked at whether women had been using HRT prior to a dementia diagnosis (Getty Stock)

Some 4,000 cases of dementia were identified in that time, and they then calculated whether the patients had been using HRT or not for at least a year.

The found that women who had 'lower oestrogen exposure' throughout their life, whether that was from having their periods later, or starting menopause earlier, showed the highest benefit from HRT against dementia.

Women who carry the Apoe4 gene variant were found to have stronger responses as well.

Minihane said: “This is really important because Apoe4 carriers are typically considered at higher risk and have fewer established prevention options."

The experts stressed that the findings are only based on observational data, and were not found through a 'gold standard randomised-controlled trial'

They added that there could well be other contributing factors, for example they found that most women using HRT had 'a higher average level of education than non-users'.

Dr Susan Kohlhaas is the executive director of research and partnerships at Alzheimer’s Research UK.

She said: “This study alone isn’t enough to tell us whether HRT should be used to reduce dementia risk, but it provides further evidence that the timing of HRT and a woman’s hormonal history may matter.

“We now need research that can establish whether HRT itself is responsible for these differences in dementia risk and understand which forms of HRT may have an effect.

“Anyone considering starting or stopping HRT should speak to their GP about the potential benefits and risks for them.”