Cognitive effects of hormone therapy in early postmenopausal women

Recent reports suggest that hormone therapy (HT) with estrogen may have a protective effect on the ageing brain and cognitive function. However, clinical evidence regarding the cognitive effects in menopausal women under HT has produced conflicting results. The purpose of the present study was to assess and compare the cognitive effects after 6 months of HT in 30 early postmenopausal women, who were divided into three groups as follows: group I, Therapy conjugated equine estrogen (ET) CEE 0.625mg/day (n=10); group II, Estrogen-Progestin Therapy (EPT), CEE 0.625 mg/day plus, chlormadinone 1 mg/day (n = 10); and group III, the control group, who did not receive treatment (n=10). The three groups were matched by age and years of education. Exclusion criteria were: central nervous system diseases, severe cardiac disease, and clinical history of cancer and depression. Subjects were tested using a comprehensive battery for the evaluation of attention, memory and executive functions, which was standardized and validated in Spanish-speaking subjects. The rate of cognitive change was defined by the difference between the measurements at the sixth month minus the baseline score. Mean group differences were assessed with MANOVA, followed by one-way ANOVA considering statistical significance when p < .05; the alpha significance level .05 was corrected using the Bonferroni procedure. The EPT group showed higher scores than the control group and ET group in the Total Attention Score and in the copy of the Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure. The ET group showed significantly higher scores than the control group and the EPT group in the subtest of Spatial Backward Span and in the Immediate Face Codification. The short-term positive effects observed with HT in this sample could be related to the stimulation of brain receptors and/or neurotrophic factors that are still present at this age.