❓Did you know: Women are at increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (being 68% of cases), influenced by the loss of oestrogen in menopause.
Oestradiol improves cognition and lowers risk of AD in post-menopausal women by at least 34%, with beneficial results dominating with use of topical oestradiol.[1-4]
The many benefits of oestradiol [5]
Oestradial helps memory and cognition:
Neuroprotective and modulating
↑ neurogenesis, network activity and synaptic transmission
Master regulator of mitochondria
↑ ATP/energy production
↓ inflammatory response to beta-amyloid
↓ beta-amyloid levels and toxicity, and ↑ clearance
Oestradial helps vascular health (which contributes to 40% of AD cases):
Enhances vascular health and ↓ cardiovascular death
↓ oxidation of LDL cholesterol
↓ plaque formation
↑ vasodilation (stimulates nitric oxide)
Improves vascular elasticity
↓ BP
Maximum cardioprotective effects when oestradiol is initiated at first symptoms of menopause and within first 10 years after menopause.[4]
Have a look at the evidence. Perhaps bioidentical HRT is part of the puzzle for many menopausal women.
References:
Wharton W, et al. Potential role of estrogen in the pathobiology and prevention of Alzheimer's disease. Am J Transl Res 2009;1(2):131-147.
Rahman A, et al. Sex and gender driven modifiers of Alzheimer's: The role for estrogenic control across age, race, medical, and lifestyle risks. Front Aging Neurosci 2019;11:315.
Hogervorst E, et al. Hormone replacement therapy for cognitive function in postmenopausal women. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2002;(3):CD003122.
Mikkola TS, et al. Lower death risk for vascular dementia than for Alzheimer’s disease with postmenopausal hormone therapy users. J Clinical Endocrin Metabol 2017;102(3):870-877.
Nilsen J, et al. Estradiol in vivo regulation of brain mitochondrial proteome. J Neurosci 2007;27(51):14069-14077.