Hormone therapy: a dangerous way to ‘prevent’ Alzheimer’s
Hormone replacement therapy is one of those things that just won’t go away.
The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study should have been the final word on it. In fact, the shocking results of that research resulted in it being stopped in 2002, a full three years ahead of schedule “in the interest of safety.”
Now, a group of researchers out of Finland want us to believe that HRT can prevent Alzheimer’s disease if a woman begins using it at exactly the right time — and stays on it for over a decade!
It’s the latest scheme to trick a new generation of women to pick up where their moms left off.
And it can be setting the stage not only for certain killer diseases — but also be increasing the risk of dementia, rather than preventing it.
This study might look good on paper, but then, you could say that about the whole HRT idea as well.
That’s why the results of the WHI stunned so many patients and doctors alike. After all, it’s well-known that estrogen protects against heart disease. And hormones such as estrogen also play a big part in brain health. But no such protective benefits appear to be coming from these HRT drugs.
Despite that, researchers have spent years studying these HRT meds as a potential Alzheimer’s preventive.
The latest one comes from the University of Eastern Finland where researchers pulled together 20 years of data on more than 8,000 postmenopausal women who used HRT.
But basically, this study was a flop. Hormone use didn’t seem to have any effect on preventing Alzheimer’s. So they examined the results upside down and all around. And eureka, they found something to announce to the press!
The researchers reported that women who used HRT for more than 10 years — beginning at the start of menopause — were only half as likely to develop Alzheimer’s compared to women who used the treatment for shorter stints.
The lead researcher referred to it as the “critical window” theory.
But seriously, it’s more like throwing common sense out the window.
Because HRT is well-associated with an “increased risk of probable dementia.” And that quote comes directly from the black-box warning on Premarin. Actually, “dementia” is mentioned no less than 44 times on that label — along with the risk of stroke, deep vein thrombosis, cancers, pulmonary embolism and heart attacks.
The warning box reads like a horror movie of terrible diseases. And yet the lead researcher claims in a press release, “In the light of these findings, hormonal replacement therapy may have a beneficial effect on cognition if started early.”
Even experts who weren’t involved in this study were scratching their heads over that, and similar comments. One, Dr. Julie Dumas, from the University of Vermont, said that she didn’t thing anyone is “prescribing estrogen for women’s brains.”
I certainly hope not! Actually, I would think by now that doctors wouldn’t be prescribing women estrogen for anything at all.
And taking it for a decade to gain some potentially miniscule protection from Alzheimer’s while risking a huge bunch of killer diseases makes no sense.
But despite all the risks involved, the FDA has approved dozens of HRT drugs, some containing estrogen alone, some just progestin and some with the drugs combined together. One new med called Duavee, is a combo of Premarin (which comes from the urine of pregnant mares) and a drug Pfizer couldn’t get approved for osteoporosis.
Look — it’s time to put this dangerous “therapy” away once and for all. Because whatever new studies may come along trying to convince women that HRT has any benefits will only be giving you a small part of the story.
“Postmenopausal hormone therapy exceeding ten years may protect from dementia” University of Eastern Finland, February 16, 2017, ScienceDaily, sciencedaily.com
