This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (9)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Neurology  • Menopause  • Dementias  • Alert me on articles by topic

Insights From the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study

Lon S. Schneider, MD

JAMA. 2004;291:3005-3007.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Alzheimer disease (AD) increases exponentially with age, with an annual incidence of approximately 0.08% at age 60 to 64 years, and more than doubling every 5 years to an incidence of 0.7% at age 75 to 79 years and 1.4% at age 80 to 85 years.¹ Approximately 43% of people with AD are between 75 and 85 years.¹ A substantial number of observational studies have suggested that hormone therapy decreases incidence or delays onset of dementia, primarily AD.^2-7 Laboratory studies have shown that estrogen receptors are present on cholinergic neurons and have neurotropic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects.^8-9 Estrogen deficiency in middle age has been postulated to account, at least in part, for the somewhat higher incidence of AD in women than men and may constitute a risk factor for AD.

The Women's Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS), the estrogen-alone portion of which is reported in this . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliations: Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Neurology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

RELATED ARTICLES

Conjugated Equine Estrogens and Incidence of Probable Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment in Postmenopausal Women: Women's Health Initiative Memory Study
Sally A. Shumaker, Claudine Legault, Lewis Kuller, Stephen R. Rapp, Leon Thal, Dorothy S. Lane, Howard Fillit, Marcia L. Stefanick, Susan L. Hendrix, Cora E. Lewis, Kamal Masaki, Laura H. Coker, and for the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study
JAMA. 2004;291(24):2947-2958.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Conjugated Equine Estrogens and Global Cognitive Function in Postmenopausal Women: Women's Health Initiative Memory Study
Mark A. Espeland, Stephen R. Rapp, Sally A. Shumaker, Robert Brunner, JoAnn E. Manson, Barbara B. Sherwin, Judith Hsia, Karen L. Margolis, Patricia E. Hogan, Robert Wallace, Maggie Dailey, Ruth Freeman, Jennifer Hays, and for the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study
JAMA. 2004;291(24):2959-2968.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Estrogen and Comprehension of Metaphoric Speech in Women Suffering From Schizophrenia: Results of a Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial
Bergemann et al.
Schizophr Bull 2007;0:sbm138v1-sbm138.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Progesterone and Estrogen Regulate Alzheimer-Like Neuropathology in Female 3xTg-AD Mice
Carroll et al.
J. Neurosci. 2007;27:13357-13365.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Estrogen, cognition and female ageing
Genazzani et al.
Hum Reprod Update 2007;13:175-187.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Effects of Testosterone on Cognition and Mood in Male Patients With Mild Alzheimer Disease and Healthy Elderly Men
Lu et al.
Arch Neurol 2006;63:177-185.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Investigative Models for Determining Hormone Therapy-Induced Outcomes in Brain: Evidence in Support of a Healthy Cell Bias of Estrogen Action
BRINTON
Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 2005;1052:57-74.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Yet More Bad News About Hormone Therapy, This Time for Cognitive Function
JWatch General 2004;2004:3-3.
FULL TEXT  

Oestrogen doesn't protect mental function in older women
Tanne
BMJ 2004;328:1514-1514.
FULL TEXT