Short-term hormone therapy for menopause does not seem to impact brain function

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-11-22 06:00

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Short-term hormone therapy given to women in early menopause does not appear to have any effects on brain function a decade later, according to international researchers who say their research could provide reassurance to women considering the therapy. The follow-up study revisited patients nearly 10 years after receiving one of two types of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) or a placebo, asking participants to repeat a series of tests to examine brain function. Among 275 women, MHT did not protect against a decline in brain function, but short term MHT also had no negative long-term impacts. The findings could help women in menopause, as well as healthcare providers who may be hesitant to start MHT due to safety concerns, according to the authors.

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From: PLOS

Peer-reviewed Observational study People

Short-term menopausal hormone therapy has no long-term cognitive impact

Women in early postmenopause taking short-term MHT had no cognitive effects a decade later

Short-term menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) did not have long-term cognitive effects when given to women in early postmenopause, according to a study published November 21^st in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine by Carey Gleason from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, and colleagues.

While MHT can offer relief from the challenging symptoms of menopause, many women and doctors are hesitant to start MHT due to safety concerns. Previous research has linked one form of hormone therapy to mild cognitive impairment and dementia in women older than 65 years of age, prompting research on the importance of age and timing of therapy on cognitive impairment. Other studies have suggested that transdermal estrogen may have long-term cognitive benefits.

In the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS), women in early postmenopause with good cardiovascular health were randomized to receive one of two types of MHT (oral or transdermal estrogen) or placebo. At the end of four years, no cognitive benefit or harm was seen in those who received MHT compared to the placebo group. However, long-term cognitive effects of MHT are still understudied.

In this new follow-up study—the KEEPS Continuation Study—researchers revisited participants nearly ten years later to repeat a series of cognitive tests. Among 275 women, although MTH failed to protect against cognitive decline, short-term MHT also had no long-term negative cognitive impact.

These findings may offer reassurance to women considering MHT while adding to the growing body of research supporting the importance of timing for MHT. More research is needed to investigate whether these results are generalizable to women with higher cardiovascular risk.

The authors add, “For women in menopause and the health care providers caring for them, getting direct, clear and evidence-based information about menopausal hormone

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conference: PLOS Medicine

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Organisation/s: Mayo Clinic, USA

Funder: Financial disclosure: Financial disclosure: Authors also gratefully acknowledge the support of Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, and the support provided by CTSA Grant Number UL1 TR001863 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (to LP); and support from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH)/Harvard Medical School Clinical and Translational Science Award UL1 RR024139 from NCATS (to JEM), a component of NIH, to the BWH Center for Clinical Investigation; support from the National Institute on Aging Award (1RF1AG057547 to KK). Contents of this paper are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of NIH. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report. Competing interests: I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: K.K. served on the data safety monitoring board for Pfizer Inc. and Takeda Global Research & Development Center, Inc. She received research support from Avid. MMA received consulting fees from the Biomedical Research Alliance of New York. Radiopharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly. She consults for Biogen.

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