March 13, 2025 from Fox News
A new study from the University of Calgary is shedding light on the neurological impact of menopause — suggesting that the more symptoms women experience, the higher their risk of developing dementia later in life.
Published in PLOS One, the research examined 896 postmenopausal women enrolled in the CAN-PROTECT study, a national platform investigating aging and brain health. Women reported their perimenopausal symptoms, and researchers assessed their cognition and behavior using two validated tools: the Everyday Cognition Scale (ECog-II) and the Mild Behavioral Impairment Checklist (MBI-C).
Symptoms Linked to Early Dementia Indicators
Women who reported more severe menopause symptoms scored higher on both cognitive and behavioral assessments, indicating greater decline.
“One of the most interesting findings was the association between menopausal symptom burden and mild behavioral impairment (MBI) symptoms — a syndrome increasingly recognized as an early indicator of dementia risk,”
said lead author Dr. Zahinoor Ismail, a professor at the University of Calgary.
These symptoms can include changes in mood, social behavior, and personality — early markers that may precede clinical dementia.
Hormone Therapy Shows Potential — but needs more study
While the study did not find a strong link between hormone therapy and cognitive function, it did find that women using estrogen-based hormone therapy had significantly fewer behavioral symptoms. Dr. Ismail noted that
“Participants who reported using estrogen-based hormone therapy during perimenopause had significantly lower mild behavioral impairment symptom severity.”
Experts say more research is needed to explore whether hormone therapy could play a protective role in brain health during and after menopause.
Why Vasomotor Symptoms Matter
Other research supports the brain-health link. Even when hot flashes or night sweats aren’t consciously noticed, they’ve been associated with reduced cognitive function, according to Dr. Alexa Fiffick, a family physician specializing in menopause. Fiffick explained that
“It is believed that vasomotor symptoms are correlated with development of white matter hyperintensities in the brain, akin to what vascular dementia looks like on imaging.”
Limitations and Next Steps
This was a cross-sectional study, meaning it captured data at one point in time. While it found associations between menopause symptoms and brain health, it could not prove causation.
The researchers also did not assess symptom severity in detail or differentiate between types of hormone therapy used.
Dr. Ismail commented that future research should involve following participants over time and incorporating biological data to assist better understand menopause’s long-term impact on dementia risk.
Reframing Menopause as a Neurological Shift
Menopause expert Tamsen Fadal said the findings reflect a growing consensus among clinicians and researchers. According to Fadal,
“Brain scans of women in menopause reveal real structural and metabolic changes. This research reinforces that menopause is a neurological shift as much as it is a hormonal one.”
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