More Good News for Women: Synthetic, Prescription HRT Shrinks the Brain

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

Here’s some cheery news to end the week with.  The story will only be available until April 12, 2009 for some reason; I guess this is going to have to go down the memory hole.

We all know that hormone replacement therapy’s relationship to the rise of cancer rates (and the fall since women have stopped taking them en masse), but have you heard about this??

HRT Shrinks the Brain

But research shows it does not damage cerebral blood vessels in older women

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_73726.html (*this news item will not be available after 04/12/2009)

HealthDayMonday, January 12, 2009

MONDAY, Jan. 12 (HealthDay News) — Two studies looking at the same group of women found that while hormone therapy is linked with brain shrinkage, it does not seem to be associated with early signs of cerebrovascular disease.

This suggests that hormone therapy’s effect on brain volume, not its effect on the brain lesions that indicate “silent strokes,” is the mechanism by which hormones increase the risk for dementia in women over 65.

“These are a nice companion to cognitive studies reported earlier. This is now neuroradiological evidence that, together, suggest that the effect [of hormones] may be more degeneration than vascular,” said Miriam Weber, an assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation and of neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

These papers, both published in the Jan. 13 issue of Neurology, are the latest in a parade of analyses resulting from the hormone therapy arm of the landmark, government-sponsored Women’s Health Initiative study.

Previous results included an increased risk of stroke and cerebrovascular disease in women over 65 taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Another offshoot of the WHI, the WHI Memory Study, found an increased risk of dementia and memory problems in this group of women.

Both papers set out to understand the mechanisms behind this increased risk for dementia in women taking conjugated equine estrogens (either estrogen alone or estrogen plus progestin).

(MORE)

Great news, huh?  First, the continuing misogyny and disrespect from the Obama crowd, now we get the news that Big Pharma and the docs have helped shrink a lot of female brains!

I never trusted or wanted to use the stuff, so I’m OK on this one.  But you have to wonder, what’s coming down the pike next for women…

Oh, by the way, as reported by American Association for Health Freedom :

The conclusion once again was that “these findings don’t impact the current recommendations which are to use hormone therapy for treatment of menopausal symptoms for the shortest time at the lowest possible dose.”

Cancer, increased risk of stroke and cerebrovascular disease, shrinking brains and demention…NOPE, just move along, nothing to worry about here…”shortest time at the lowest possible dose” certainly is reassuring, isn’t it?