For years, researchers thought that estrogen protected women against developing Alzheimer's disease, and that menopausal hormone therapy could delay or even prevent the onset of the disease. Then came the Women's Health Initiative, or WHI, a federally funded study testing the effects of hormone therapy against a variety of conditions.

In 2002, the WHI found that women taking the hormone therapy, Prempro, composed of progestin (a synthetic form of progesterone) and conjugated equine estrogen, had twice the risk of dementia compared to those not using any hormones.¹⁰ Put another way, of the 10,000 women taking hormone therapy in a year, 23 additional women would develop dementia.

Claudia H. Kawas, MD, professor of neurology, neurobiology and behavior at the University of California, Irvine, has been studying the effect of estrogen on Alzheimer's disease for years, publishing one of the first studies suggesting that estrogen use could reduce the risk of developing the disease.

"My message about estrogen management has not changed once in the last 20 years," she says. "I think estrogen is a quality of life issue for the majority of women. If it makes you feel good, take it. If it doesn't make you feel good, you shouldn't take it. But if you're taking it to prevent Alzheimer's disease, there's not enough evidence for that."X

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