Study finds link between menopause timing and Alzheimer’s disease
It is one of the many enduring mysteries of Alzheimer’s: why women seem so much more prone to the disease than men.
“So two-thirds of Americans who have Alzheimer’s are women,” said Nicole McGurin of the Alzheimer’s Association of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. “At age 45, the lifetime risk of developing Alzheimer’s is one in five for women and only 1 in 10 for men.”
One possible contributor to the numbers: women tend to survive longer than men.
“The research is mixed on whether that life expectancy difference explains the gender differences,” said McGurin. “There is a lot of research that indicates the reasons why men and women who develop Alzheimer’s may be different.”
On that score, new research suggests a life transition only women can go through may be a contributor to dementia.
“What we found is if women started earlier, premature menopause they’re more likely to have deposits of neurotoxic Tau protein in the brain,” said Gillian Coughlan, MS, PhD, a research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Tau proteins are found in normal brain cells, but when they become abnormal or neurotoxic, several diseases, including Alzheimer’s, can result.
“Premature menopause or even early menopause might be putting women at a higher risk of developing dementia in the future,” said Coughlan.
Premature menopause occurs before age 40. Early menopause begins between the ages of 40 and 45.
The study also looked at the role hormone replacement therapy might have in the development of dementia. HRT, as it’s known, is prescribed for women to ease menopausal symptoms -- but it’s fallen out of favor because earlier studies showed it can, over the long run, increase the risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Its role in dementia seems connected with when it’s initially dosed.
“Women are looking for ways to manage their menopausal symptoms and doctors are prescribing hormone replacement therapy,” said Coughlan. “Which seems to be okay as long as it’s done in five to 10 years of when a woman’s menopause actually starts.”
But the study could not determine how beneficial HRT is at preventing dementia when given early -- though it did not seem harmful. Other studies have shown HRT, given long after menopause, may contribute to the development of dementia.
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