Pauline Anderson
December 18, 2013
The earlier the age of surgical menopause, the faster the decline in cognition, particularly in areas of episodic and semantic memory, and the more Alzheimer disease (AD) neuropathology, new results suggest.
The study confirms previous research showing that abrupt hormonal changes in midlife have a negative effect on cognition in women.
While other studies have looked at the relationship between surgical menopause and cognition, this study was unique in that it included information on AD pathology obtained from autopsies, said lead author Riley Bove, MD, instructor, neurology, Harvard Medical School, and associate neurologist, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
The findings were published online December 11 in Neurology.