US EditionStudy: Menopause Linked to Brain Gray Matter Loss
Study of nearly 125,000 women finds menopause linked to grey matter loss in memory-related brain regions and increased anxiety, depression, and sleep issues; hormone therapy slows reaction time decline.
- On January 26, University of Cambridge researchers published in Psychological Medicine a study analysing UK Biobank data from nearly 125,000 women and MRI scans from around 11,000 participants showing grey matter loss and mental-health issues linked to menopause.
- Researchers pursued the question because women face higher dementia rates; women in the UK account for around two-thirds of Alzheimer’s cases and the Wellcome Trust funded the study with NIHR support.
- Brain scans revealed reductions in the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex, and hormone replacement therapy did not prevent those structural changes but slowed reaction-time decline.
- Researchers cautioned that long-term follow-up is needed as they cannot confirm menopause-linked brain changes increase dementia risk; NHS guidelines say HRT may be considered and Alzheimer's Society recommends a dementia checklist with GPs.
- HRT users typically began treatment around age 49, close to the average age at menopause of about 49.5 years, but reported greater tiredness despite similar sleep and often had poorer mental health before menopause.
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34 Articles
Hormone replacement therapy timing linked to Alzheimer’s disease risks
Risks for developing Alzheimer’s disease can increase or decrease depending on when women begin hormone replacement therapy, according to data presented at the American Neurological Association Annual Meeting 2025. The meta-analysis comprised more than 50 clinical trials and observational studies, FNU Vaibhav, MBBS, a student at Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical
Starting HRT in early menopause may reduce women's risk of Alzheimer's
Hormone replacement therapy used within five years of the onset of menopause is associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, while starting it later in life is associated with an increased risk
In postmenopausal women, brain regions that are affected early by Alzheimer's disease shrink, regardless of whether they take hormones or not.
According to a large British study, there was a loss of brain volume during menopause, against which the use of hormone replacement treatments did not have a positive effect.
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