Wellness Corner

There are several areas of wellness that are currently "hot" in terms of research, media attention and consumer concerns. One of those areas is the use of hormone replacement therapy by women interested in countering the effects of aging and menopause. Another is an interest in the ways that we can detect, prevent and treat the serious aging disease of Alzheimer's.

It's no surprise then that there have been some correlations drawn between people interested in how these two areas of concern impact one another. In the recent past, a study found that progesterone, which women commonly take to prevent Alzheimer's, may be limited by the estrogen in HRT. However a new study shows that HRT may actually be beneficial in preventing Alzheimer's for some women.

"There is a theory that oestrogen may help prevent the build up of damaging protein tangles in the brain which are thought to trigger cell death, and Alzheimer's. But when supplies of the hormone are abruptly cut at the menopause, women may become more vulnerable."

Hormone replacement therapy literally replaces the hormones that are lost to aging thus potentially preventing the development of this type of disease.

Question of the Day: What do you make of the connection between hormone replacement therapy and prevention of Alzheimer's?

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