Dr. Mercola June 17 2000 1,142 views
A new double-blind placebo-controlled study failed to find any benefits of hormone replacement use in relation to Alzheimer's Disease.
Though the results are disappointing, they do not necessarily rule out a role for estrogen in either the treatment or prevention of Alzheimer's disease, according to the study's authors.
Estrogen may turn out to be beneficial when used in combination with other drugs or it may help stave off the development of Alzheimer's when taken before symptoms begin.
In the study, 50 women with Alzheimer's were randomly assigned to a daily dose of an estrogen/progestin supplement or placebo. After 12 weeks, women taking hormones did not perform significantly better on tests of memory, concentration and other intellectual skills.
The study's authors state that the hormones may show a benefit when given for a longer period of time and a larger study group may be required as well.
However, an editorial accompanying the study points out that this is the third study published this year that has failed to show that estrogen improves mental function in women with Alzheimer's disease.
Neurology 2000; 54: 2035-2037, 2061-2066
One of the classic arguments that traditional medicine offers to convince women to begin or stay on estrogen therapy is osteoporosis prevention, heart disease prevention, and more recently the hope of prevention of Alzheimer's.
With 3 studies already showing no benefit, this avenue does not seem promising, at least with the synthetic progestin and horse-derived estrogen used.
Maybe a more appropriate regimen of natural hormone replacement would show better results. However, this study was partially funded by drug manufacturer Wyeth-Ayerst, the makers of Premarin, and they are unlikely to fund any projects which would not directly support their product.
Related Articles:
Estrogen Hormone Replacement Therapy Raises Women's Heart Risks Testosterone may reduce production of Alzheimer's protein NATURAL ESTROGEN LEVELS DO NOT CORRELATE WITH COGNITIVE DECLINE
Estrogen Hormone Replacement Therapy Raises Women's Heart Risks
Testosterone may reduce production of Alzheimer's protein
NATURAL ESTROGEN LEVELS DO NOT CORRELATE WITH COGNITIVE DECLINE
I got involved with glyconutrition, since my colleague's brother in law who had a ruptured brain anyurism 8 years ago improved remarkably, and continues to, from short term memory loss and a balance problem (used to be a very successful architect, but became a depressed couch potato, as he had to close his practice -with 5 children still at school etc. that was quite a challenge to his wife).
In our research to see how we can further enhance and help others with brain-issues, I came across the website of the Endowment for Medical Research (www.endowmentmed.org).
I see they are conducting studies on TREHALOSE (an 'upside-down' binding of two glucose molecules) and its potential for improving brain function, for neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's.
It seems quite an economical option, and easy to do (a 'lemonade' is made as a hot or cold beverage, using Trehalose powder, with fresh lemon juice, in filtered water).
Apparently, the Trehalose has something to do with the condition of the cell membrane, onto which the protein and lipid receptors attach (for those who know, this is the attachment which forms the GlycoPROTEIN or -LIPID), and the success theyve seen, may be attributed to avoiding the cells from 'dying' before they should (e.g. motor cells in Parkinson's and memory cells in Alzheimer's) As we live in Africa, and at this stage importing it will be prohibitively expensive due to weight, we are still looking at options of shipping it in at better rates, but I thought I should at least post this for the ones fortunate enough to live in the US and Canada, where it is available from the site mentioned above.
Trehalose has only recently been extracted from corn, in a more economical process in Japan, which makes it available to the 'public' for the first time, aparently.
There's also a GREAT book (e-book for now) on improving brain-function, on their site