Hormone replacement therapy reduces the risk of heart and Alzheimer’s disease
Believe it o not, cardiovascular disease is the leading killer of women. And estrogen seems to be a powerful weapon against it. A study found that and estrogen raises HDL (“good” cholesterol) levels while it lowers LDL (“bad” cholesterol) levels. Additionally, the study found that heart disease decreased nearly 50 percent in women who took estrogen.
(For women who have heart disease HRT was associated with a 50 percent increase in the number of heart attacks and heart-related deaths in the first year of taking hormones, with the risk disappearing after four years.)
HRT may also help reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists have identified estrogen receptors in brain cells that are crucial for memory. In practice, estrogen has been shown to have an apparent effect on age-related memory loss. Postmenopausal women who took estrogen did better on memory tests than those who didn’t. While the differences were small, they were consistent. Currently, larger studies of Alzheimer’s patients are ongoing.