Hormone replacement therapy, brain volumes and white matter in postmenapausal women aged 60-64

Date

2006

Authors

Low, Lee-Fay
Maller, Jerome
Kumar, Rajeev
Wen, Wei
Lux, Ora
Salonikas, Chris
Naidoo, Daya
Sachdev, Perminder Singh
Anstey, Kaarin

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Abstract

Research on the structural and functional effects of hormone replacement therapy on the brain has produced inconsistent results. This paper reports on cross-sectional associations between hormone replacement therapy use and volumes of brain structures measured using magnetic resonance imaging in 213 postmenopausal women aged 60-64 years recruited from a large population study. Of these, 64 were current hormone replacement therapy users, 69 previous users and 80 had never used hormone replacement therapy. No differences were observed between groups in total grey matter, white matter, hippocampal or amygdalar volumes, severity or volume of white matter hyperintensities, or in different measures of brain atrophy. While acknowledging the limitations of a cross-sectional study, the results argue against hormone replacement therapy being protective against brain changes associated with ageing in women in their early 60s.

Description

Keywords

Keywords: adult; amygdaloid nucleus; article; brain atrophy; brain size; controlled study; female; gray matter; hippocampus; hormone substitution; human; major clinical study; nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; postmenopause; priority journal; white matter; Brain; Ageing; Amygdala; Estrogen; Hippocampus; Magnetic resonance imaging; White matter

Citation

Source

NeuroReport

Type

Journal article

Book Title

Entity type

Access Statement

License Rights

Restricted until

2037-12-31