NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The long-term use of estrogen or estrogen plus progestin hormone therapy does not reduce the risk of dementia, according to findings published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. “Results from (previous) studies of the relation between hormone therapy and Alzheimer’s disease conflict,” Dr. Valerie Crooks, of Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, and colleagues write. The researchers report the results of a forward-looking study of about 2,900 women, at least 75 years of age, who were recruited from a Southern California health plan in 1999. The subjects, who were free from dementia when the study began, were followed through 2003 with tests performed annually to assess their thinking ability.
