Skip to Main Content
 
print media

Home | About | Magazine | Specialists | Forum | Professionals | Sitemap | Shop | Contact

Menopause news




The menopause transition and hormone use: effects on cognitive performance in midlife women

23 June 2009

A recent publication from the Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) study by Greendale and colleagues has followed 2362 participants for 4 years during the menopause transition [1]. Assessments were made of time since the menopause transition, hormone use before and after the final menstrual period, and of cognitive function and memory

The results showed that, consistent with women’s perception of their memory difficulties at this time, perimenopause was associated with a decrease in cognitive performance characterized by women not being able to learn as well as they had during the premenopause. Improvement in learning rebounded to premenopausal levels after the menopause, suggesting that menopause transition-related cognitive difficulties may be time-limited. Hormone initiation before the final menstruall period had a beneficial effect, whereas initiation after the final menstrual period had a detrimental effect on cognitive performance.

Comment
Women often complain of increased loss of memory and difficulty in decision-making during the menopause transition. This has been confirmed in the large longitudinal SWAN study, with an interesting additional finding of spontaneous improvement several years after menopause. Whether menopausal symptoms, e.g. vasomotor symptoms of hot flushes and sweats, contribute to the cognitive problem during the menopause transition has still to be investigated. Of further interest in this study was the apparent beneficial effect of hormone therapy when commenced during the perimenopause but starting hormone therapy many years after menopause was not beneficial. The results from various studies are continuing to point towards a possible therapeutic window of opportunity for both neuro- and cardioprotection in some symptomatic women near menopause.

Reference [47] >>

< Go Back

<< News Index

For your information...

Menopause + Premature Menopause + Menopause Symptoms + Bleeding Problems + Vaginal Problems + Bladder Matters Menopause and HRT after Hysterectomy Treatments + Diet, Lifestyle & Exercise + Menopause at Work Hormone Replacement Therapy + HRT Preparations + Prescribable non-HRT Testosterone Alternative Therapies + Alternative Techniques Decision Tree Contraception + Osteoporosis + Heart Disease + A to Z of menopause and medical conditions Magazine Shop More +