A recent research pointed out that women that follow HRT, or hormone-replacing therapy, might suffer from cognitive performance decline. The study tried to determine what the effects that the treatment has on postmenopausal women are, yet researchers wonder if the treatment has negative on younger women, too.

The study concluded that the hormone replacing therapy diminishes cognitive skills, as it determines certain areas of the brain to reduce their size.

The National Institutes of Health, which initiated the research, made a deep analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study, considered the most exhaustive investigation regarding hormone replacement therapy.

The researchers at the National Institutes of Health found out that, overall, women that are doing the hormone replacing therapy have smaller frontal lobes than women that did not take hormones.

Senior investigator at the National Institute on Aging, Laboratory of Personality and Cognition, and head of the research, Susan Resnick, reported that postmenopausal women that did undergo the hormone therapy tend to have “greater brain atrophy” in the frontal lobes areas of the brain. Frontal lobes are considered the control center in memory acquisition.

The hormone replacement treatment had been initially considered very effective in minimizing women’s symptoms during the menopausal process, researcher that studied the matter afterwards concluded that the therapy also hides several health risks.

The first time when the HRT was doubted as a safe and effective support for menopausal women was 2002, when a comprehensive research by the Women’s Health Initiative concluded that the treatment might trigger strokes and other heart problems.

Yet, a new set of guidelines issued by the International Menopause Society (IMS) in May 2008 stated that the Women’s Health Initiative Study was questionable and that the society has determined that the hormone replacing therapy is secure for women under 65. Nevertheless, the IMS confirmed that women over 65 risk heart problems if they undergo the hormone treatment.

Resnick expects that the results of the cognitive tests will show a significant difference between women over 65 that did the treatment and the ones that did not. She also added that previous researches confirmed that a smaller frontal lobe translates into lower memory abilities. Resnick stated that, besides memory decline, the study might confirm that HRT is also leading to dementia, even though she pointed out that the therapy is only accelerating the natural process of cognitive skills decrease with age, rather than directly harming the brain.

It is quite interesting that recent studies tend to show that memory skills are depreciating because of HRT, as when it had first come out on the market, the treatment was actually expected to increase cognitive abilities.