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Postmenopausal hormone therapy ineffective for Alzheimer disease

Postmenopausal hormone therapy was not associated with decreased risk for Alzheimer disease; however, long-term self-reported use was associated with reduced risk.

“Women have [Alzheimer’s disease] more often than men either due to their increased life expectancy or decline in sex steroid hormone levels around menopause, although some small studies have not detected this sex difference,” Bushra Imtiaz, MD, MPH, of University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, and colleagues wrote. “Neuroprotective effects of estrogen have been observed in experimental animals, but clinical trials on postmenopausal hormone therapy use have not been successful, including the largest clinical trial to date, the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study.”

To assess associations between postmenopausal hormone therapy and Alzheimer’s disease, researchers analyzed 20 years of follow-up data for 8,195 women aged 47 to 56 years from the Kuopio Osteoporosis Risk Factor and Prevention study. Study participants completed self-administered questionnaires every 5 years from 1989 to 2009.

Overall, 227 women had incident Alzheimer disease.

Alzheimer disease risk was not associated with postmenopausal estrogen use in register-based (OR = 0.92; 95% CI, 0.68-1.2) or self-reported data (HR = 0.99; 95% CI, 0.75-1.3).

However, long-term self-reported hormone therapy was associated with reduced risk for Alzheimer disease (OR = 0.53; 95% CI, 0.31-0.91).

Researchers found similar associations for any dementia diagnosis in the hospital discharge register.

“Our results based on two decades of follow-up of a large homogenous population did not provide strong evidence for a protective association between postmenopausal [hormone therapy] use and [Alzheimer disease] or dementia,” the researchers concluded. – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.