Alzheimer's Disease and Menopause
Is there any relation between Alzheimer's disease and menopause? The answer is yes; there is a relation between Alzheimer's disease and menopause. Studies have shown that postmenopausal women often suffer from memory loss, which can sometimes cause Alzheimer's disease. This may be caused due to the deficiency of female sex hormone estrogen after menopause. This female sex hormone-estrogen is thought to help keep brain cells healthy, but it's level drops during menopause, causing memory loss and sometimes resulting in Alzheimer's disease.
Estrogen manipulates attention, language skills, mood and a number of other functions. Memory loss is a natural part of aging. But menopausal women are unable to retrieve certain date and often complain of brain freezing. Some of the menopause symptoms caused due to estrogen deficiency include trouble in finding words, mood swings, inability to pay attention, and memory problems like Alzheimer's disease. Memory loss caused due to menopause may be for short time. But some of the women who experience these symptoms remain silent since they are scared about what they may discover. But women experiencing these symptoms should not just ignore it, as it may be a symptom of Alzheimer's disease.
Memory problems encountered by menopausal women may be sometimes due to hormonal changes or sometimes due to stress. Estrogen helps in enhancing memory, and its docking sites are present in several regions of the brain, including the regions involved in memory. When these docking sites are activated by estrogen, they activate processes, which are useful to the brain. Estrogen is also responsible for raising levels of neurotransmitters like acetylcholine, concerned with memory, serotonin, concerned with mood, noradrenaline, concerned with mood and other autonomic functions and dopamine concerned with motor coordination. Thus, estrogen affects the mind and aids the networking between nerve cells.
Studies have shown that estrogen helps to improve memory loss in women thereby reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease. The postmenopausal women who have undergone Hormone replacement therapy (HRT- administration of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone) show significant reduction in the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. But some studies show that it doubles the risk of Alzheimer's disease and even heart disease.
Several studies have shown that estrogen can prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease in postmenopausal women. It is found that estrogen use may be protective for Alzheimer's disease with late onset but its effects on early onset of Alzheimer's disease are unclear. Estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) may be useful for preventing or delaying the onset Alzheimer's disease.
Some herbal remedies like Ginkgo biloba tincture, Butcher's Broom and kelp are useful for improving memory loss and preventing Alzheimer's disease after menopause. Meditation and mental exercises can also help in improving memory. There are certain essential oils like Rosemary, Basil, Ginger, Lemon, Grapefruit, Thyme, Black Pepper, and Coriander that may help to trigger your memory and thought processes thus preventing the onset of Alzheimer's disease.