Hormones Help Maintain Brain Functions and Memory
For many women menopause is associated with mental fog. Forgetting words, people’s names, short term memory issues, things like that affect everyday living for people affected by loss of hormones.
Some neurology studies suggest that so called ‘intellectual edge’ can in fact be affected in peri-menopause. It seems to recover in later phases of menopause.
Major research has been conducted and one of the conclusions was that women who were treated with hormones before their last menstrual cycle had in fact improved their mental skills. Studies showed that it matters when the hormone therapy starts, as it will have different effect on the patient.
At the peri-menopausal and menopausal stage that decline is not considered a dementia and things will improve when supplementing the estrogen.
In early 2000′s hormone replacement therapy has been under the radar for claims of increased risk of certain types of cancer, heart and cardiovascular diseases. As always there are two sides of the story.
Patients severely affected by menopause symptoms can bear the increased risk of complications to fight debilitating issues caused by hormonal deficiency.
In many cases there is not enough evidence to categorically say that the sole cause of the increased risk is associated to hormones. In the big picture there is too many factors affecting persons health to blame a single cause. Often the lifestyle choice is to blame before anything else.
One of the study in menopausal women results shows that estrogen and progestin has no effect on mental functions at this age. Another study with pre menopausal women shows mainly positive results.
In younger women ovaries are still functional and hormones are only supplemented. In menopausal women hormone therapy replaces the hormones which are no longer produced by ovaries. This difference seems to affect the outcome.
To restore the ability to concentrate and keep healthy mind many women turn to hormone therapy. They weigh the risk vs benefits and decide that their career is important part of their lives.
In pre-menopausal stage neurons seem react in positive way to estrogen , however about 5 years into menopause there seems to be no positive effect. Some debate that at later stage estrogen can lead to deterioration in mental health.
As for the long term effects there is not enough studies conducted to confirm or deny any claims. There is also inconsistency regarding any Alzheimer’s disease related claims. The studies suggest that young neurons do benefit from from estrogen, where in case of old neurons the dementia can actually be accelerated. At this time it is still a theory.
Life can be a pain if one day you wake up and you can’t think straight or forget things. It’s even worse for self concious individuals to understand what is happening. Menopausal symptoms are ugly enough by themselves but when you add mental health issues to the mix, it’s no wonder so many women get depressed.
If you still young enough consider hormonal therapy as a preventive measure for future issues. If you’re a bit older there may be other alternatives.
In any case please consult with qualified professional to create a personal action plan to get you thorough the worst phase of aging.
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