Swedish researchers have found that a longer reproductive period and hormone replacement therapy are associated with roughly an eight percent lower risk of small blood vessel damage in the brain among women by age 70, the website infohub.kz reports.
Specialists at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Yale University in the United States examined how the duration of estrogen exposure in women relates to the state of cerebral blood vessels in later life. The findings were published in the medical journal Neurology. Women with a longer reproductive period, as well as patients who took hormone therapy during menopause, were found to be less likely to face cerebrovascular pathology at age 70.
The study drew on data from 352 healthy Swedish women born in 1944 who took part in the Gothenburg H70 Birth Cohort Studies. The volunteers underwent magnetic resonance imaging at age 70, and most were examined again at 75. MRI scanning made it possible to assess markers of small vessel disease: white matter hyperintensities, lacunes, microbleeds and enlarged perivascular spaces.
The analysis showed that each additional year of reproductive life reduced the likelihood of developing two or more signs of brain vessel pathology by about 8%. Scientists identified later onset of natural menopause as the main positive factor. Among women carrying the APOE-ε4 genetic variant, which raises the risk of Alzheimer's disease, taking hormonal medications was also associated with greater cortical thickness in vulnerable areas of the brain.
The authors stress that the work is observational and does not prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Lead author Julia Lorenzoni said the findings cannot yet be regarded as a direct basis for prescribing hormone therapy for preventive purposes.