severity of menopause symptoms linked to dementia: study
current data shows that the severity of menopause symptoms and a lack of proper treatments could be used as a risk factor for developing dementia later on in life.
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data from an ongoing study at the university of calgary has established a new link between menopausal symptoms and dementia. dr. zahinoor ismail, professor of psychiatry, neurology, epidemiology, and pathology with the hotchkiss brain institute, has spoken out about the new revelation gleaned from 800 people across canada.
as reported by global news, ismail commented, “females who experience more mid-life menopausal symptoms tend to report poorer cognition and greater mild behavioural impairment severity later in mid-to-late-life.”
“[these] findings indicate that the burden of untreated menopausal symptoms may extend beyond menopause, and act as an early marker for the susceptibility to cognitive and behavioural decline, both markers of dementia.”
while full results of the ongoing cross-sectional study from can-protect have yet to be published, the current data shows that the severity of symptoms and a lack of proper treatments could be used as a risk factor for developing dementia later on in life.
menopause and brain health
menopause affects many areas of overall health, including brain health. the hormone estrogen is to blame for these cognitive and mood changes because fluctuating estrogen in specific brain regions can lead to changes in mood, memory, and cognitive function.
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areas of the brain, including the hypothalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala, play their own roles in how the brain and body function. for example, the hypothalamus regulates body temperature, while the hippocampus acts as a memory centre in the brain. the amygdala is the brain’s emotional centre, which contributes to a person’s mood.
during menopause, the hormone estrogen goes through periods of highs and lows, and when the hormone does so in those regions, it can lead to mood swings and an increase in depression and anxiety, poor memory, and brain fog.
the mechanism behind estrogen and cognitive changes stems from the hormone’s important role in modulating neural activity. estrogen receptors in parts of the brain, namely the areas mentioned above, respond to fluctuating levels by causing neuropsychiatric symptoms. those neuropsychiatric symptoms, even if present due to other health disorders or conditions, are closely tied to dementia risk.
markers of dementia and the connection to menopause
prior to the early 2000s, diagnosing dementia-related diseases was impossible to do in living patients. it took an autopsy of the brain to determine markers of the disease. flash-forward to today, where advanced research has changed the game; people can now receive a diagnosis through forms of testing, including brain imaging scans, cerebrospinal fluid biomarker (csf) tests, and blood tests sensitive to specific proteins in the brain.
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while these diagnostic processes are used to confirm dementia in those with symptoms, it wasn’t until recently that menopausal changes were thought to be included in mitigating risk factors because of how they affect the brain. this leads researchers to believe that the mild cognitive impairment that goes hand-in-hand with menopause is likely to increase a person’s risk of alzheimer’s and other dementia-related diseases later in life, just like other forms of cognitive impairment.
“i focused on the neuropsychiatric and cognitive symptoms [in the study]. because when those emerge and persist in mid-life and later, they are risk factors for dementia,” ismail said.
using the results to lower the risk of dementia-related diseases
females with cognitive and mood changes during menopause can opt for hormone replacement therapy (hrt) to help balance estrogen levels and, in turn, the symptoms that arise from hormonal fluctuations.
the therapy is designed to keep mood swings and cognitive changes to a minimum during the process of menopause, and preliminary results from the ongoing study have found that when given hrt, females experience less severe bouts of cognitive dysfunction and lower levels of anxiety and depression.
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“what we found was that the greater number of menopausal symptoms that they had, the more impaired they were and the more symptoms they had,” ismail said.
these crucial findings are indicative of the connection between menopause and dementia, finding that those with more severe symptoms have a higher likelihood of developing dementia-related diseases because of how early-onset cognitive decline plays a role.
according to the alzheimer’s society of canada, “mci [mild cognitive impairment] may increase your risk of developing alzheimer’s disease or another dementia.” the society also states that, while mci earlier in life can lead to dementia, it’s not a hard and fast rule. in some cases, people with mci can also recover or remain stable without ever developing dementia.
the study continues to shed light on the connection between menopause and dementia. when the full results are published, the data will be able to present a clear and more definitive answer as to how menopause cognitive impairment can lead to dementia-related diseases.
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