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Roughly two - third of women plain of forgetfulness or " brain fog " during menopause . Now two novel study add to the grow consistence of research suggest that cognitive decline and memory problem associated with change of life are tangible and may be linked to fluctuate levels of endocrine in the brain .
In one subject , pre- and post - menopausal adult female perform worse on tests of computer memory and noesis in the twelvemonth after they had their last period than in the clock time leading up tomenopause . investigator at the University of Rochester in New York performed a barrage fire of cognitive run on 117 women geezerhood 40 to 60 who were in various stages of menopause . The investigator get that in their first post - menopausal year , women performed significantly worse on trial of verbal encyclopaedism and computer memory ( how well they could recall words from a list ) , motor function ( how tight they could put a series of grooved rowlock in a pegboard ) , and aid and working retentivity ( how well they could recall increasingly tenacious strings of fingerbreadth ) than women who had not yet reach menopause . These effects were large for verbal eruditeness and memory ; medium for ok motor attainment ; and little to medium for attention and working memory . The discipline was publish in January in the journal Menopause .
While it is indecipherable why menopause may affect noesis , hormones most likely are involved , according to the investigator . " In the calendar month after a cleaning lady has her last period , hormonal changes are most precipitous , " said senior study researcher Pauline Maki , film director of womanhood ’s genial wellness research at the University of Illinois at Chicago . As a woman approach path menopause , the ovary bit by bit produce lessestrogen , which is important for thinking and remembering .
fortunately , change in memory associated with menopause seem to be irregular and are not relate to diseases such as dementia andAlzheimer ’s disease , Maki said . But the study confirm that the complaints expressed by many menopausal women are the result of material cognitive deficits and are n’t just in their heads , Maki said .
The second study , led by researchers at Brigham and Women ’s Hospital in Boston , paint a picture that the vernal a woman is when she know operative climacteric — the removal of her womb ( hysterectomy ) and one or both ovaries ( oophorectomy ) , the quicker she experiences fall in her ability to commemorate times and place and understand basic concepts as well as her overall cognition . What ’s more , the written report find , she is at greater peril for the development of brain lesion called brass , which have been associated with neurological diseases such as Alzheimer ’s . However , the researchers regain no link between a char ’s geezerhood at surgical menopause and Alzheimer ’s disease .
More than 1,800 postmenopausal women , whose average age was 78 when the study begin , were involved in the enquiry . One - third of the women reported having previously undergone surgical menopause . The remain two - thirds had experience natural change of life .
Previous study have suggested that woman who have surgical menopause prior to the years of natural menopause are vulnerable to changes in the mentality that may castrate cognitive use over the recollective term . On average , most American womanhood experience their last period at about age 51 , allot to the National Institutes of Health .
Women who undergo a hysterectomy and oophorectomy , but tookhormone replacement therapy , had a obtuse rate of cognitive decline than women who did not take hormone . The subject did not quantify the amount of time a woman would have to take hormone to experience such a benefit .
" These are preliminary data and do not warrant any new medical advice at this time , " said sketch author Dr. Riley Bove , a neurologist at Brigham and Women ’s Hospital . " Further research need to be carry to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of endocrine substitute therapy after early surgical climacteric . "
Many menopausal women are disoblige by symptom such as hot flashgun , night sweats , sleep problems anddepression . Some experts hypothesize that these symptom may lead to memory problems .
To comfort menopausal symptom , women may be prescribed hormone replacement therapy . Those charwoman who still have a uterus are typically order a combining of Lipo-Lutin and estrogen ; charwoman who no longer have a womb are prescribed only estrogen . However , hormones have both benefit and risks , such as an increased peril for breast cancer andstroke .
" At this time , there ’s no denotation to apply internal secretion replacement therapy for the sole treatment of remembering problem in natural or operative menopause , " order Maki .
determination from the second field of study , which have not been write in a peer - critique journal , will be presented at the annual American Academy of Neurology conference in San Diego in March .
Pass It On : Two studies confirm that memory problems are plebeian during menopause .
