Hormone therapy started between ages 46 and 56 linked to lower dementia risk in UK study

NORWICH, England - Postmenopausal women who used hormone replacement therapy had a lower recorded risk of dementia than women who never used it, with the strongest link among those who started treatment between ages 46 and 56, according to a University of East Anglia and University of Exeter analysis covered by Fox News.

Researchers examined UK Biobank records for 183,450 postmenopausal women, average age about 60, over a mean 13.3 years of follow-up. Nearly 4,000 dementia diagnoses occurred. Results appeared in Alzheimer's and Dementia.

Overall, HRT use was associated with about a 10% lower risk of all-cause dementia and a 16% lower risk of Alzheimer's disease compared with never use. Women who began HRT between ages 51 and 56 showed about a 23% lower dementia risk in the reported breakdown. Those who started between 46 and 50 showed about a 13% lower risk. Starting after age 56 was not associated with reduced dementia risk in this analysis.

Associations were stronger after surgical menopause and among women with lower lifetime estrogen exposure or who carried the APOE4 gene variant. Professor Anne-Marie Minihane said the work may help tailor HRT discussions for women with different lifetime dementia risk profiles.

Dr. Alexa Fiffick, a family medicine physician in Cleveland, told Fox News Digital the study remains observational and cannot prove cause and effect. Prior evidence on HRT and dementia has been mixed, and guidelines do not treat dementia prevention as a primary reason to start hormones.

Women weighing HRT for hot flashes, sleep disruption or other menopause symptoms should review personal clot risk, breast cancer history, age at menopause and heart risk with a clinician. This report supports the idea of a midlife window for some women, not a late-life dementia pill.