Estrogen Alzheimer’s Dilemma

By Janice Doyle : It’s hard to know what to think when women are told to avoid taking estrogen for relief of menopausal hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings and depression and then are told in new research that estrogen may potentially protect against Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders. Estrogen influences language skills, mood, attention and a number of other functions in addition to memory. It does this when it activates certain sites which are beneficial to the brain. Estrogen also raises certain brain neurotransmitters which are implicated in memory, mood, motor coordination and other autonomic functions. You might say it is the system which allows the brain’s nerve cells to talk to each other. So, yes, estrogen can influence certain functions of the brain, but only a doctor can evaluate what is happening with any one individual woman.