The effect of hormone replacement therapy on cognitive function in postmenopausal women: An RCT

Background: During the reproductive age, the human brain becomes a target forgonadal steroid hormones. Estrogens influence neural function through effects onneurons and affects indirectly the oxidative stress, inflammation, the cerebral vascularand the immune system.Objective: To evaluate the effect of the traditional hormone replacement therapy (HRT)on the cognitive function in postmenopausal women.Materials and Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 140 postmenopausal women,from November 2014 to February 2015, were included. Women were randomly dividedinto two groups. Each woman in the case group took traditional HRT (0.625mgconjugated equine estrogens+2.5mg medroxyprogesterone acetate daily) plus oneCal+D tablet (500 mg calcium+200 IU vitamin D) daily for four months. Women inthe control group received only one Cal+D tablet (500 mg calcium+200 IU vitamin D)daily for four months period. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and GreenClimacteric Scale (GCS) questionnaires filled out after the intervention and comparedbetween the two groups.Results: The mean points of the MoCA after the intervention indicate that all MoCAdomains except for the orientation improved in the case group. There was a significantdifference in the memory domain after the treatment between the two groups. MoCAdomains and GCS were negatively correlated after the intervention.Conclusion: The HRT has affected some of the MoCA factors. The effects of HRT oncognitive function should be studied in a large prospective study in a group of womenin their early and late menopausal ages with periodic assessment of their cognitivefunction during these follow-up years.

کلیدواژه ها:

Cognition ، Hormone replacement therapy ، Postmenopausal women