There are 2 drugs which safely and significantly (over 60%) reduce
the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, estrogen and aspirin. There is a similar effect for testosterone--article thereon will soon be posted.
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/140/3/256
Retrospect study finds a 69% reduction in Alzheimer’s
Disease among women on estrogen
Estrogen
Deficiency and Risk of Alzheimer's Disease in Women
Annlia Paganini-Hill1,
and Victor W. Henderson2
1Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern
California School of Medicine Los Angeles, CA
2Department of Neurology, University of Southern California School
of Medicine Los Angeles, CA
Reprint requests to Dr. Annlia
Paganini-Hill, Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern
California School of Medicine 1721 Griffin Avenue #103, Los Angeles, CA 90031
The authors explored the possibility that estrogen loss
associated with menopause may contribute to the development of
Alzheimer's disease by using a case-control study nested within a
prospective cohort study. The Leisure World Cohort includes 8,877
female residents of Leisure World Laguna Hills, a retirement
community in southern California, who were first mailed a health
survey in 1981. From the 2,529 female cohort members who died
between 1981 and 1992, the authors identified 138 with Alzheimer's
disease or other dementia diagnoses likely to represent Alzheimer's
disease (senile dementia, dementia, or senility) mentioned on the
death certificate Four controls were individually matched by birth
date (±1 year) and death date (+1 year) to each case. The risk of Alzheimer's disease and
related dementia was
less in estrogen users relative to nonusers (odds ratio = 0 69, 95 percent confidence interval
0.46=1.03). The risk decreased significantly
with increasing estrogen dose and with increasing duration of
estrogen use. Risk was also associated with variables related
to endogenous estrogen levels, it increased with increasing age at
menarche and (although not statistically significant) decreased with
increasing weight. This study suggests that the increased incidence
of Alzheimer's disease in older women may be due to estrogen
deficiency and that estrogen replacement therapy may be useful for
preventing or delaying the onset of this dementia. Am J Epidemiol
1994; 140:256–61.
