HRT: after cancer, now dementia
After all its other bad press recently, it’s the final nail in the coffin for hormone replacement therapy. The large-scale US Women’s Health Initiative studies have found that, among other risks, HRT not only doesn’t prevent dementia or mild cognitive impairment in postmenopausal women, but may actually increase the risk of developing the condition. Just oestrogen on its own, without progesterone, also had an adverse affect on mental function, according to a second study of 2808 women (JAMA, 2004; 291: 2947-68).