Early menopause puts women at higher risk for dementia, study shows

BOSTON - A new study finds that early menopause plus a higher risk for heart disease may put women at higher risk of having dementia later in life.

Women are at greater risk for Alzheimer's than men. As are people with risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, and high cholesterol.

In this new study published in the journal Neurology, researchers at the University of Toronto examined more than 16,000 male and female participants and discovered that women who entered menopause before the age of 49 who were also at higher risk of cardiovascular disease had lower scores on thinking and memory tests three years later.

They did not find the same results for women who went through menopause later, and hormone therapy did not affect the results.

They say that early menopause may exacerbate the effects of cardiovascular risk on brain health.

In:
• Dementia
• Alzheimer's Disease

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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