What you probably already know: Women are more likely than men to develop Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, but researchers are still trying to understand why. A new study in Nature Medicine found that menopause may be one piece of the puzzle, pointing to midlife as an important window for understanding women’s long-term brain health.
What it means: Researchers analyzed blood proteins from 80 women ages 43 to 58, carefully grouped by their stage of menopause. The results showed that menopause was associated with changes in proteins involved in inflammation, metabolism, synaptic function and Alzheimer’s-related processes. Researchers then tested those findings in four independent groups totaling almost 12,000 older women, and found that, overall, women with stronger biological patterns associated with menopause also showed less favorable cognitive outcomes — including steeper cognitive changes over time and, in one cohort, a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease-related dementia.
Why it matters: The findings do not mean menopause causes dementia — but they add to evidence that menopause may be a key window of time for understanding biological changes that can influence brain health.
Expert’s take: Dr. Amalia Peterson, M.D., a behavioral neurologist and assistant professor of neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, hosted a National Institute on Aging (NIH) webinar in June about women’s health and dementia. While describing menopause as “this window of biological vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease,” Dr. Peterson also stressed a reassuring distinction for women experiencing “brain fog” or forgetfulness in mid-life: “Most women who experience cognitive symptoms during the menopausal transition will not develop dementia. Those are not indicative of the beginnings of a neurodegenerative disease.”
What happens next: The study’s findings could eventually help researchers identify biomarkers or potential treatment targets for brain health in midlife women. For now, more research is needed to disentangle the effects of menopause and hormonal changes from neurological aging and the normal effects of getting older, and to better understand how those factors may influence long-term brain health.
— Story by Chloe Rodgers
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