X-Message-Number: 26531
References: <>
From: David Stodolsky <>

Subject: Hormone replacement therapy can increase dementia (was :Stodolsky & 
interventions
Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2005 14:21:24 +0200

On Jul 3, 2005, at 7:12 PM,  wrote:

> David Stodolsky wrote in part:
>
> Yesterday, I had a chance to glance thru the last year of the Journal
> of Gerontology, which is probably the top journal in the field. There
> were two special issues devoted to "Anti-ageing". While the outlook was
> good, there currently is no evidence that bio-medical interventions can
> extend life.
>

>
> David also implied that those taking alleged life extension  
> supplements are at substantial risk.

<http://biomed.gerontologyjournals.org/cgi/gca? 
gca=60%2F6%2F680&gca=60%2F6%2F736&gca=60%2F6%2F744&gca=60%2F6%2F754&gca= 
60%2F6%2F793&sendit=Get+All+Checked+Abstract%28s%29>


The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical  
Sciences 60:736-743 (2005)


REVIEW ARTICLE

Sex, Hormones, and Alzheimer's Disease

Larry W. Baum
Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Chinese University of Hong  
Kong, Shatin.

Correspondence: Address correspondence to Larry W. Baum, PhD,  
Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Chinese University of Hong  
Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong. E-mail: 

More women than men have Alzheimer's disease (AD). Retrospective  
studies suggested that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) might  
counteract this disparity by reducing the risk of developing dementia.  
However, a recent, large, prospective study revealed the puzzling  
result that HRT increased dementia risk. A review of the literature was  
conducted to generate hypotheses that might explain why more women than  
men have AD, and how HRT may increase dementia risk. Longer life span  
of women than men may be the largest factor in the preponderance of  
women with AD. Longer duration of disease, less vascular dementia, and  
less testosterone in women than men may also contribute somewhat. HRT  
might increase dementia risk by several mechanisms: greater risk of  
strokes, leading to dementia; use of medroxyprogesterone acetate and  
estrone, which might have somewhat different possible effects on  
neuronal and cerebrovascular function than may progesterone and  
estradiol; decrease of free testosterone which might protect against  
AD; a dose or delivery method perhaps producing drug levels that might  
lie outside a hypothetical beneficial range; and down-regulation of  
estrogen receptors on cholinergic neurons, possibly reducing  
cholinergic activity. Further study is required to discern by which of  
several possible mechanisms HRT increases dementia risk.



dss

David S. Stodolsky    SpamTo: 

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