Hormone therapy and Alzheimer's disease

This study attempts to compare the use of hormone therapy among Finnish postmenopausal women with and without a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.
All postmenopausal women (n=84 739) in Finland who, between 1999 and 2013, received a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease from a neurologist or geriatrician, and who were identified in a national drug registry, have participated. The undiagnosed control women (n=84 739), matched by age and hospital district, were traced from the Finnish national population register.
As a result they have seen that long-term use of systemic hormone therapy may be accompanied by an overall increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, which is not related to the type of progestogen or the age of onset of systemic hormone therapy. Conversely, the use of vaginal estradiol shows no such risk. Although the increased absolute risk of Alzheimer's disease is small, these data should be implemented into information for current and future users of hormone therapy.