As dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases turn out to be more common worldwide, researchers are urgently searching for ways to guard the brain as we age. One area attracting increasing attention is hormones, particularly the role of hormone therapy during and after menopause.
This interest is partly attributable to the proven fact that Alzheimer’s disease is more common in women than men, especially after midlife, suggesting that hormonal changes around menopause may affect long-term brain health.
Our research has focused on tibolone, an artificial type of hormone therapy prescribed to alleviate menopausal symptoms equivalent to hot flashes and disturbed sleep. Although it is usually prescribed to alleviate menopausal symptoms, our results suggest that tibolone can also offer significant brain protection.
In laboratory studies, The tibolone helped Brain cells survive under stressful conditions. These include low consumption of glucose (glucose is the brain’s foremost fuel) and accumulation of saturated fats equivalent to palmitic acidwhich is usually higher in obese people. Low glucose intake and high saturated fat are each risk aspects. Cognitive decline and neurological disorders.
Tibolone protects brain cells in several ways. It prompts protective proteins, reduces inflammation and limits damage. Free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules which might be produced during normal energy production or when the body is exposed to pollution or cigarette smoke. They behave like tiny sparks inside cells, causing structural damage unless neutralized.
Why are women more in danger?
Alzheimer’s disease Affects women more. Compared to men, approx Three to one. Even after accounting for girls’s longer life expectancy, their risk stays. About 12 percent more.
This difference likely reflects a mixture of genetic, hormonal, and social aspects. Certain genes, incl APOE ε4 varianta version of a gene that controls how the brain processes fats and clears harmful proteins, is related to a better risk of Alzheimer’s. Other Jeans Can also contribute to the opposite X chromosome. Differences in Reproductive history, Number of pregnancies and access to Education And health care plays a job, too, as these aspects influence lifelong mental health, cardiovascular risk and the way early cognitive problems are detected and treated.
However, hormonal changes around menopause appear to be particularly necessary. When the menstrual cycle ends, levels of estradiol (the foremost type of estrogen) drop rapidly, while follicle-stimulating hormone increases. Both changes are connected to Cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.
Many women experience the every day effects of those changes: forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating, slow considering, low mood, poor sleep and low motivation. Estradiol normally helps brain cells use energy more efficiently. When levels drop, the brain uses glucose less efficiently, making a metabolic pattern just like that seen in early Alzheimer’s.
Estradiol also helps regulate fat distribution and cholesterol. When it’s reduced, women often gain visceral fat across the abdomen. This kind of fat releases inflammatory chemicals that may damage blood vessels and the brain. Loss of natural anti-inflammatory effects of estradiol Further increases the risk Metabolic syndrome (a cluster of conditions including hypertension and insulin resistance), cognitive decline and dementia.
Can hormone therapy help?
These findings have led researchers to ask whether hormone therapy can offset a few of this risk.
Hormone therapy normally combines estrogen and progesterone and is widely prescribed to alleviate hot flashes, insomnia and mood swings. It also can improve mood and reduce depression, which not directly supports cognitive health.
By the early 2000s, tens of millions of girls used hormone therapy and reported advantages. Then, in 2002, the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) trial took place. A high risk was reported Breast cancer and cardiovascular events in women taking combined hormones. Headlines warn that hormone therapy “Increases the risk of cancer” leading many ladies to stop treatment or avoid it altogether.
The WHI Memory Study also found that starting hormone therapy at age 65 or older didn’t protect cognition and was related to a better risk of dementia. Subsequent analyzes revealed a very important point: timing matters.
Low lifetime exposure to estrogen is connected to Accelerated cognitive decline and an increased prevalence of Alzheimer’s-related changes within the brain. Women who enter menopause early (before age 45 to 50) More risks are faced. Alzheimer’s and more pronounced memory loss. Surgical MenopauseDue to each ovulations, estrogen drops suddenly and could cause significant problems with memory and a spotlight, especially in young women.
A growing awareness of the link between menopause and mental health is starting to shape public policy.
In a historic move, Ireland introduced a programme Providing free hormone therapy in June 2025. Removing cost barriers allows women to start out treatment earlier and to proceed with it, conditions that may maximize its advantages.
Elsewhere in Europe, access varies. In England, women who don’t qualify without spending a dime NHS prescriptions should purchase annual hormone therapy. Prepayment Certificate For £19.80. Prescriptions are free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, while France and Spain partially cover costs through national insurance.
gave Safety profile of tiboloneLowering financial barriers could improve access and support larger clinical trials to check its effects on mental health.
Hormone therapy will not be a guaranteed approach to prevent dementia. The strongest protection still comes from a broad approach: effectively managing menopausal symptoms, possibly through hormone therapy, while also controlling blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes, being physically lively, getting good sleep and avoiding smoking.
Women are at a better risk of developing Alzheimer’s throughout their lives attributable to a mixture of genetic, hormonal and social aspects. Hormone therapy, especially when began during menopause, might help protect cognitive function in addition to relieve symptoms. Along with a healthy lifestyle, it offers a promising tool to support mental health and reduce the gender gap in dementia risk.