"Can estrogen preserve brain function and decrease the risk of Alzheimers disease http when given early in menopause http Newly postmenopausal women who received estrogen via a skin patch had reduced betaamyloid deposits the sticky plaques found in the brains of people with Alzheimers disease a Mayo Clinic http study published this month in the Journal of Alzheimers Disease httpcontent.iospress.comjournalsjournalofalzheimersdiseasePreprintPreprint found. Ultimately these deposits harm neurons leading to cognitive problems. In the study women with APOE e http  one form of the most common gene associated with lateonset Alzheimers disease  had lower levels of amyloid deposits. This study showed for the first time that the brain amyloid deposition  a hallmark of Alzheimers disease  is reduced in newly  postmenopausal women who received betaEstradiol patch form of hormone therapy says lead author Kejal Kantarci M.D. http a Mayo Clinic radiologist http Women with APOE e who have a greater genetic risk for Alzheimers disease particularly benefited from this therapy. MEDIA CONTACT Susan Barber Lindquist Mayo Clinic Public Affairs  newsbureaumayo.edu mailtonewsbureaumayo.edu Menopause is defined as occurring  months after a womans last menstrual period and marks the end of menstrual cycles. In the U.S. the average age of menopause is . A rapid decline in estrogen with menopause may be associated with an increased risk of Alzheimers disease risk in women. The Womens Health Initiative study by the National Institutes of Health https NIH reported that menopausal hormone therapy started in women  or older increased the risk of dementia. In contrast the multicenter Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study  http the hypothesis that healthy and younger women would respond to menopausal hormone therapy more favorably. The Mayo Clinic study used data from the Kronos study to determine the effects of menopausal hormone therapy shortly after menopause during the critical window of rapid estrogen depletion  five to  months past menopause. Researchers investigated the brain amyloid deposition in  women ages  to  who participated in the Kronos trial during this critical window. The researchers used positron emission tomography also known as a PET scan to look for the brain amyloid deposits three years after the trial ended. Of the  women  received estrogen via a skin patch  received estrogen orally and  received a placebo. Amyloid deposition was lower in women who received the patch compared to the placebo and the effect was most apparent in women with the APOE e genotype. The oral treatment was not associated with lower amyloid deposition. The authors are seeking funding to perform amyloid PET imaging at eight more Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention study sites around the U.S. If our results are confirmed in the larger group of women this finding has the potential to change the concepts for preventive interventions that drive the Alzheimers disease field today Dr. Kantarci says. It also may have a significant impact on women making the decision to use hormone therapy in the early postmenopausal years. Study coauthors are Val Lowe M.D. http Timothy Lesnick M.S. Nirubol Tosakulwong Kent Bailey Ph.D. http Julie Fields Ph.D. http Lynne Shuster M.D. http Samantha Zuk Matthew Senjem M.S. http_ga... Michelle Mielke Ph.D. http Clifford Jack Jr. M.D. http Walter Rocca M.D. http and Virginia Miller Ph.D. http all of Mayo Clinic and Carey Gleason Ph.D. http of University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. This study is funded by the Aurora Foundation to the Kronos Longevity Research Institute and NIH. NS AG AG"