Hollywood for years has shown menopausal women as two-dimensional characters with extreme hot flashes and mood swings. But menopause is a not a laughing matter for millions of American women. Postmenopausal women have hot flashes and can’t sleep, they are at an increased risk for heart disease and osteoporosis, and some studies have shown that postmenopausal women have some decreased cognitive function.
Currently the University of Vermont is conducting medical trials that look at the relationship between decreasing estrogen levels and cognitive function and memory. Women’s ovaries stop producing estrogen after menopause. Currently studies are underway to see if postmenopausal women will have increased cognitive function if they receive hormone replacement therapy.
Julie Dumas Ph.D., is a Post-Doctoral Associate in the Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit at UVM notes “that many postmenopausal women will report some change in memory.” Recent studies have suggested that estrogen supports the central cholinergic system which is involved in memory and cognition. Thus researchers are interested in learning what role estrogen plays in cognitive function and memory and why women are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s as men.
Dr. Paul Newhouse, M.D., the Director of the Clinical Research unit is “interested in how hormones affect memory & cognition. Our previous research suggests that estrogen may enhance brain function. We are trying to understand the role hormones might have on intellectual and cognitive changes in women after menopause.”
Currently there are three studies focusing on the affects of sex hormones on cognitive function and memory in postmenopausal women. In one trial women are given estrogen, in another estrogen and progesterone, and in the third trial women receive tamoxifen. These studies are looking at whether estrogen can help preserve memory in normal aging and to decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s.
According to Dumas many Vermont women decide to participate in these trials “for their mothers, sisters, or other female relatives, many have parents with Alzheimer’s and their goal is to help us out to learn what happens to memory with aging.”
Before you rush to your doctor’s office to begin hormone replacement therapy you should know that these trials are on going. In addition, hormone replacement therapy has come under attack about increasing the risk of breast cancer. As with any medical decision it is recommended that women talk to their doctors about the benefits and risk of hormone replacement therapy.
For more information on Clinical Trials
Call Sally Ross Nolan
802-847-9488 or 866-276-9488
or visit www.uvm.edu/~cnru
Who Can Participate:
- Postmenopausal women 50+
- Not Currently on Hormones
- No History of Breast Cancer
Sarah Lemnah writes on senior issues for the Champlain Valley Agency on Aging. This article originally appeared in the Burlington Free Press.
