Postmenopausal hormone therapy and Alzheimer's disease risk: interaction with age.
We examined the relation between oestrogen containing hormone therapy (HT) used for more than 6 months and Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk in 971 postmenopausal women (426 AD patients, 545 relatives without dementia). There was a significant interaction between age and HT use on AD risk (p = 0.03). In stratified analyses, a significant protective association was seen only in the youngest age tertile (50-63 years; odds ratio = 0.35, 95% confidence interval = 0.19 to 0.66). Results must be considered cautiously in light of recent clinical trial evidence that oestrogen plus progestin increases dementia incidence in older postmenopausal women. However, our observational findings are consistent with the view that HT may protect younger women from AD or reduce the risk of early onset forms of AD, or that HT used during the early postmenopause may reduce AD risk.
Henderson
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Stanford University School of Medicine, 259 Campus Drive, HRP Redwood Building, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5405, USA. vhenderson@stanford.edu
Benke
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Green
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Cupples
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Farrer
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D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors
D001057:Apolipoproteins E