People who start puberty early may have a reduced risk of dementia later in life, a new study has found.
Causes of dementia and Alzheimer’s are still uncertain in the medical world, but scientists have been studying various environmental, genealogy and lifestyle factors over the years to determine if any increase or decrease the risk of diagnosis.
A new health study has claimed estrogen exposure may be part of this list.
University College London researchers spoke to 273, 260 female participants aged between 37 and 73 years old for the study. They sampled data on medical, lifestyle background and reproductive histories. They wanted to find out whether estrogen has any part to play in developing dementia.
The team found people who started periods under 12 years of age were 12 per cent less likely to have the disease, compared to those who began at 15 or over. Furthermore, those exposed to estrogen in the 50s were apparently 24 per cent less likely to develop dementia than women who went through menopause in the early 40s.
The study, published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry found that prolonged exposure to the hormone – starting earlier and going through menopause later – had a decreased risk. They also concluded women who had a history of reproductive surgery had an increased risk of diagnosis as well. They believe “estrogen might have a protective role in women in the development of dementia.”
They recruited participants between 2006 and 2010, writes Newsweek.
Hee Kyung Park of University College London, the study’s author, said: “We found that the earlier women start menstruating, and the later they go through menopause, the lower their risk of developing dementia.
“A lifetime of prolonged exposure to estrogen gives women a protective effect against dementia, and this needs to be factored into clinical practice to help understand and prevent dementia.”
The researchers added more studies are needed, as this does not imply estrogen will cause a decrease in dementia diagnosis.
