Long-Term Use of Hormone Therapy Pills Linked to Increased Alzheimer's Risk, Study Finds

A Finnish study published in the BMJ suggests a link between long-term use of oral hormone therapy and a slightly higher risk of Alzheimer's in postmenopausal women, reports NBC News . The researchers examined roughly 85,000 postmenopausal women, between the ages of 70 and 80, diagnosed with Alzheimer's between 1999 and 2013. Women who took oral hormone therapy for 10 or more years and began before age 60 had a 9 percent to 17 percent higher risk for Alzheimer's, while women who used vaginal hormone therapy showed no elevated risk. The University of Helsinki's Tomi Mikkola said biological differences between Alzheimer's and vascular dementia may be one reason hormone therapy does not protect against the former disease. "What we know is that the disease has started decades before we see symptoms of memory loss," he noted. While Mikkola suggests that hormone therapy can accelerate the progression of Alzheimer's, Brigham and Women's Hospital's JoAnn E. Manson said, "For the short-term management of hot flashes, night sweats, and disruptive sleep, the benefits of hormone therapy seem to outweigh the risk."