1 Women are twice as likely to live with dementia as men.
2 Studies indicate that women have a higher prevalence of dementia compared to men, likely due to a faster rate of brain cell death in women.
The reason
It is believed that estrogen has a protective effect against dementia. As women go through menopause and their estrogen levels decrease, their risk of developing dementia increases. As a result, doctors have explored the use of hormone replacement therapy to counteract this increased risk.
HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) has been investigated as a potential method to reduce the risk of dementia in women. Initially, trials showed reduced incidence of dementia but increased risk of breast cancer, leading to cessation of treatment. However, subsequent studies with fewer side effects have emerged, with the results of a study of 400,000 women indicating that both the older and newer forms of HRT can reduce the risk of dementia. Further research is required to determine the effectiveness of HRT in diverse populations. In earlier trials of HRT, women reduced the number of cases of dementia but increased their risk of breast cancer. So the treatment was stopped. Later, HRT treatments with fewer side effects emerged. In 2021, the results of a study of 400,000 women showed that both the new and old HRT reduced the risk of dementia. More studies are needed to see if HRT works in all populations.
