Busting brain myths: The evolving story of menopause hormone therapy & cognitive health

(Zahinoor Ismail, Jasper Crockford/ The Conversation) — In the early 2000s, a major women’s health study — Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) — made headlines. As an ongoing study launched in the ‘90s, the WHI asked: could menopause hormone therapy (MHT), used to ease menopause symptoms, also protect against serious health problems in later life?

A smaller arm, the WHI Memory Study (WHIMS), focused on brain health in women without dementia.

When results were released in 2002, they were shocking. Women on MHT were more likely — not less — to develop heart disease, stroke, breast cancer and dementia. Doctors quickly advised against MHT, prescriptions plummeted, and for years, MHT nearly disappeared from the conversation.

But the story the findings told at the time was incomplete. The WHI findings weren’t wrong; they revealed real risks. But in the years since, researchers have re-examined the WHI data — not only the brain findings, but also the heart, stroke and cancer results — to better understand when, why and how MHT should be used. Today, experts agree that for many women who start MHT around menopause and don’t have medical reasons to avoid it, the benefits outweigh the risks, and MHT can be safely prescribed to manage menopause symptoms. (…)