Difficult Menopause Could Be Warning Sign For Future Dementia
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, March 6, 2025 -- Hot flashes, night sweats and other symptoms of a difficult menopause could be early warning flags for dementia, a new study suggests.
Women who exhibit more menopause symptoms are more likely to develop early signs of dementia like decreased mental function and mild behavioral impairment, compared with women who have an easier transition, researchers reported in the journal PLOS One.
Results also showed that hormone replacement therapy did help ease the effects of menopause on behavioral impairment.
“It's fascinating that there is a link between the menopausal experience and subsequent changes in cognition and behavior,” senior investigator Dr. Zahinoor Ismail, a neuropsychiatrist at the University of Calgary in Canada, said in a news release. “I find that mind blowing.”
Women are known to have triple a man's risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, researchers said in background notes.
To examine this risk more closely, researchers analyzed data on nearly 900 women who’d gone through menopause.
The women reported the symptoms they suffered during menopause, and took tests measuring their brain function and behavior.
Symptoms of menopause could include irregular periods, hot flashes, chills, vaginal dryness, weight gain, slowed metabolism, night sweats, sleep problems, mood symptoms, inattention or forgetfulness and other unnamed symptoms, researchers said.
Women who reported more menopause symptoms tended to have more cognitive impairment later in life, researchers found.
They also had more behavioral problems associated with dementia, such as apathy, anxiety, irritability, lack of inhibition, loss of social graces or tact or inflexibility.
Researchers also asked women if they’d used hormone replacement therapy, which can ease the symptoms of menopause.
Those who had used hormone therapy had better behavioral impairment scores, but the therapy did not improve their cognitive scores, results show.
Some have speculated that the decline in estrogen levels caused by menopause might affect later brain health, researchers said.
Estradiol, a form of estrogen, is known to contribute to the development of synapses and neurons, “all of which decline in neurodegenerative diseases and dementia,” researchers wrote.
“In menopause, estradiol naturally declines,” the research team wrote. “Thus, the experience of menopausal symptoms may act as an indicator of how well females tolerate estradiol changes.”
However, they added that more research involving a larger group of women is needed to verify these findings, and to better understand the potential effects of menopause on brain health.
Sources
- PLOS One, news release, March 5, 2025
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted March 2025
Read this next
NIH Scientists Still Face Layoffs Despite RFK Jr.'s Reassurances
TUESDAY, May 20, 2025 — Some of the nation's top brain researchers are still facing layoffs, even after U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr...
Brain Wave Decoder Figures Out How To Cause Movement In Spinal Cord Injuries
MONDAY, May 20, 2025 — A brain wave decoder shows promise in using electrical stimulation to the spine to cue leg movement, researchers say. The decoder could one day help...
Couch Potatoes Have Greater Risk Of Brain Decline, Even If They Exercise
MONDAY, May 19, 2025 — Couch potatoes are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, even if they set aside time to work out each day, a new study says. People who...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.