A recent study conducted on the subject of Alzheimer found that hormone therapy may help prevent Alzheimer's in women.
A new study published in the journal Neurology stated that women to start hormone therapy within five years of menopause are less likely to be affected by the Alzheimer's diseases later in life.
"I think it's still too soon to say this opens the door a lot," said Stanford professor and Doctor Victor Henderson. "I think it does provide impetus for more study. It does provide some reassurance for women contemplating hormone therapy mid-life.
"You can't take findings like this and convert them to that kind of simple clinical recommendation," said Henderson.
But San Ramon doctor Jeffrey Riopelle, whose clinic has offered hormone therapy for the last 15 years, believes that hormone therapy is the right way to go.
"It needs to be used in a certain time of life, particularly in the 40's and 50's when women are just starting to go into menopause," Dr. Riopelle said. "Gradually, physicians I think are coming to understand if it's taken - put on topically - it doesn't convert to the estrone, the bad form. It can be helpful. It doesn't have the dangers, so women are starting to come in more, asking for it.
"I think it sort of pushes broader field - what can one do during midlife to affect risk of late life cognitive decline? That becomes important for a lot of baby boomers. I'm one of them. We want to know what can we do," said Henderson.
