Menopause? Have Estrogen Therapy Earlier To Avoid Alzheimer's Disease

Young menopausal women at risk of Alzheimer's can benefit from early estrogen therapy. According to a new study, they can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease if they start the therapy before they reach 65. 

The study claimed that women who have been menopausal for less than three years have lower levels of amyloid deposits in their brains after being treated with an estrogen patch. This means that the patch can lessen their Alzheimer's disease risk. The researchers reported that earlier hormone therapy has preventive power on the degenerative cognitive disease. 

Normally in the United States, the average age of menopause is at 51. However, most women are given estrogen replacement therapy only when they are around 65 years old. 

To have estrogen therapy much earlier can do wonders. The researchers claimed that a rapid decline in the estrogen levels after menopause increases women's risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease. The situation is more alarming for women with the gene of APOE e4, a gene linked to Alzheimer's.

"If our results are confirmed in the larger group of women, this finding has the potential to change the concepts for preventive interventions that drive the Alzheimer's disease field today," Dr. Kejal Kantarci, a radiologist at the Mayo Clinic, said in a press release. "It also may have a significant impact on women making the decision to use hormone therapy in the early postmenopausal years."

Earlier treatment with the estrogen patch can lessen risk of Alzheimer's disease more effectively than placebo. Again, the findings are more notable among women with the APOE e4 gene, researchers report. Women who entered menopause are therefore recommended to undergo this therapy.