Okay, so I'll never be using hormone replacement therapy because of that giant estrogen hungry tumor I had. That being said there are two studies being released from the American Academy of Neurology that show that women who used estrogen with or without progestin showed significantly more brain shrinkage than those taking a placebo. In fact, brain volume was 2.37 cubic centimeters lower in the frontal lobe and .10 cubic centimeters lower in the hippocampus in the women taking estrogen.
Why do you care? Because both the frontal lobe and the hippocampus are involved in thinking and memory skills and a loss of volume in the hippocampus is a risk factor for developing dementia.
There has been research in the past about temporary brain shrinkage during pregnancy but the key there is temporary. So it looks like HRT is implicated in breast cancer and dementia. Hope that makes your decision easier.
For more
Why do you care? Because both the frontal lobe and the hippocampus are involved in thinking and memory skills and a loss of volume in the hippocampus is a risk factor for developing dementia.
There has been research in the past about temporary brain shrinkage during pregnancy but the key there is temporary. So it looks like HRT is implicated in breast cancer and dementia. Hope that makes your decision easier. For more