According to US experts, the earlier women encounter the alteration, the more likely they are to acquire Alzheimer’s disease.
And the longer you wait between commencing menopause and starting hormone replacement treatment (HRT), the more likely it is.
Alzheimer’s Disease
Researchers discovered that women who started taking the crucial medicine five years after menopause began had higher levels of tau in their brains – a protein related to the illness. The study also discovered that women who started hormone therapy close to menopause did not have more or reduced tau proteins in the brain.
A new study may have uncovered a piece or two of the puzzle. Women who underwent early (age 40 to 45) or premature (before age 40) menopause or women who began hormone replacement therapy more than five years after menopause had higher levels of tau in their brains, according to the study published Monday in the journal JAMA Neurology.
Tau tangles and plaques composed of beta-amyloid proteins are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. These alterations, however, were only seen in women who already had significant levels of beta-amyloid in their brain tissue.
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Replacement Hormone Therapy
According to the North American Menopause Society, the average age of menopause onset — when a woman hasn’t had a period for 12 months in a row — is 51, though women can naturally enter menopause between the ages of 40 and 58. Hot flashes and nocturnal sweats can occur years before menopause, a condition known as perimenopause.
According to current medical guidelines, the benefits of hormone therapy for hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal pain and dryness, urinary issues, and bone loss outweigh the risks for women younger than 60 who are within 10 years of menopause and have no history of breast cancer, blood clots, stroke, or other contraindications.