Menopausal Hormone Therapy Positively Linked to Dementia

FRIDAY, June 30, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Menopausal hormone therapy is positively associated with all-cause dementia, even in women receiving treatment at age 55 years or younger, according to a study published online June 28 in The BMJ.

Nelsan Pourhadi, M.D., from Copenhagen University Hospital-Rigshospitalet in Denmark, and colleagues conducted a nationwide, nested case-control study involving 5,589 incident cases of dementia and 55,890 age-matched controls identified between 2000 and 2018 from a population of all Danish women to examine the association between use of menopausal hormone therapy and development of dementia.

The researchers found that people who had received estrogen-progestogen therapy had an increased rate of all-cause dementia compared with those who had never used treatment (hazard ratio, 1.24). Higher hazard ratios were seen with increasing durations of use, ranging from 1.21 to 1.72 for one year or less and for more than 12 years, respectively. For both continuous and cyclic regimens, estrogen-progestogen therapy was positively associated with development of dementia (hazard ratios, 1.31 and 1.24, respectively). In women who received treatment at age 55 years or younger, the associations persisted (hazard ratio, 1.24). When restricted to late-onset dementia and Alzheimer disease, the findings persisted (hazard ratios, 1.21 and 1.22, respectively).

"Further studies are warranted to explore if the observed association in this study between menopausal hormone therapy use and increased risk of dementia illustrates a causal effect," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text

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