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"A therapy designed to mimic the natural cycle of hormone fluctuation may provide a more effective therapy to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease in postmenopausal women," according to the researchers. They add that their findings were confirmed by a 2000 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) involving a long term, placebo-controlled study that examined the effects of estrogen replacement therapy on cognitive function in a large groups of women with mild to moderate Alzheimer's. The effects of ERT were initially beneficial, but the performance of women receiving sustained ERT declined more than that of women receiving the placebo treatment.

"When considered together, the results of this and other clinical trials suggest a pattern of beneficial effects on cognitive function after relatively short-term ERT; however, this beneficial effect is attenuated, and possibly reversed, after much longer treatment regimens," say the authors. "Although a comparison between humans and rodents must be made with caution, it is interesting that continuous long-term estrogen therapy immediately after ovariectomy in the present study parallels the detrimental cognitive effect seen in postmenopausal Alzheimer's disease women who receive continuous, long-term ERT decades after the onset of menopause."

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Contact: Pam Willenz
public.affairs@apa.org
202-336-5700
American Psychological Association
27-Oct-2002