A new element has been added to the debate about the merits and dangers of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Research now suggests that women can reduce their risk of Alzheimer's disease by taking hormones during and after menopause. Researchers theorize that estrogen may protect the brain by keeping nerve cells healthy and by boosting the level of neurotransmitters, chemicals that help these cells communicate with one another. The data for this study was gathered from an ongoing study conducted by the National Institute on Aging and John Hopkins University.

But the definitive answers about whether HRT protects against Alzheimer's are probably five years away, says Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad, Ph.D., professor of neurology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas and advisor to the Alzheimer's Association.

McCall's, November 1996