[this is - i hope - a cleaned up version of the message sent this=20
morning - no 'drivel' this time - fingers crossed!!]

hi all,

the news hound is back, although a bit late. and somewhere along the=20
way, she lost the caps key again.

i just struggled through an almost 'lost' weekend due to the dreaded=20
female/hormone/pd 'freeze-ups'. [i.e. when sinemet mysteriously=20
transforms itself into baby aspirin]=20

and then the recent messages about female hormones have started me=20
digging through the paterson/parkinsn archives for related posts. i've=20
got some going back to dec. 94.=20

i thought i'd post a 'summary thread' of them, since we have so many=20
new members. maybe someone out there will make a connection that will=20
lead to ...?

whaddya'll think?  about the 'summary thread', i mean?  if it's not=20
too long?

janet


ps
i thought these two news reports on the same subject were revealing in=20
their differences.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Post-menopausal estrogen is said to counter Alzheimer's
----------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright =A9 1996 Nando.net
Copyright =A9 1996 N.Y. Times News Service

NEW YORK (Aug 16, 1996 2:17 p.m. EDT) -- Taking estrogen after=20
menopause may reduce a woman's risk of developing Alzheimer's or delay=20
onset of the disease, scientists said Thursday.

In a study of 1,124 elderly women being published Saturday in The=20
Lancet, a British medical journal, and announced at a news conference=20
at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan, researchers=20
found that only 5.8 percent of women who had taken estrogen developed=20
Alzheimer's, compared with 16.3 percent of women who had not used the=20
hormone.

With each passing year of the five-year study, only 2.7 percent of the=20
women who had used estrogen developed Alzheimer's as against 8.4=20
percent of those who had not used it. Moreover, the longer the women=20
took estrogen, the lower their risk.

Black, White and Hispanic women benefited equally from estrogen, as=20
did women with varying educational and socioeconomic levels.

The findings are potentially the most promising advance ever made=20
toward the prevention of Alzheimer's disease, said Dr. Neil Buckholtz=20
of the National Institute on Aging, in Bethesda, Md. "This is the=20
third study that's shown the same kind of effect," he said, adding=20
that it is also the best to date.

Dr. Zaven Khachaturian, director of the Reagan Research Institute at=20
the Alzheimer's Association, in Chicago, said, "This study opens new=20
vistas."

Researchers are not sure how estrogen might protect against=20
Alzheimer's, but studies have suggested that it helps support the=20
growth, survival and repair of nerve cells, and that it can protect=20
them from being injured by toxic substances.

The research might point the way towards other compounds that could=20
delay or prevent Alzheimer's disease in men as well as women, he said.

"But we can't recommend that women take estrogen based on this study,"=20
Buckholtz said. "Women are going to consider that, but the most=20
reasonable thing to do, with their physicians, is to look at their own=20
risks for Alzheimer's and a variety of other illnesses.

Estrogen does seem to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, but=20
it may increase the risk of breast cancer. Each woman has to factor=20
those into the risk-benefit decision she's going to make."

Buckholtz and the scientists who conducted the study urged that=20
further research be undertaken quickly to see if the findings could be=20
verified.

In the study, a team of researchers led by Dr. Richard Mayeux, a=20
professor of neurology, psychiatry and public health at Columbia,=20
interviewed the women and asked whether they had ever taken estrogen=20
after menopause. Then, the researchers tracked the women's health over=20
the next five years and recorded how many developed Alzheimer's.

The study showed a strong association between estrogen use and a=20
lowered risk of Alzheimer's, but did not provide information about the=20
most beneficial doses, how long it should be taken or the best=20
formulation of estrogen. In addition, because the researchers relied=20
solely on the women's own memories of whether they had used estrogen,=20
sometimes many years in the past, the figures may not be as reliable=20
as those gathered in an experiment in which patients are tracked from=20
the moment they begin taking a medication.

Mayheux and his colleagues hope to answer those questions in a=20
controlled clinical trial, in which volunteer patients are assigned at=20
random to groups that take either a known dose of estrogen or a=20
placebo, a dummy drug. "The clinical trial is the gold standard,"=20
Mayheux said. A study involving 1,500 to 2,000 women in their 70s=20
could probably provide the needed information within five or six=20
years, he said.

Considering the known benefits of estrogen, he said, giving women=20
placebos instead of the hormone raises ethical questions. "But=20
scientifically," he said, "it's the best thing to do, and I think=20
there are still enough lingering doubts about safety that it's=20
probably worthwhile to do it."


----------------------------------------------------------------
Estrogen Therapy May Reduce Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease
----------------------------------------------------------------

WESTPORT, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Results of a study published in the=20
current issue of The Lancet suggest that estrogen therapy, when used=20
by postmenopausal women for at least ten years, can reduce the risk of=20
Alzheimer's disease by 30% to 40%.

Dr. Richard Mayeux of Columbia University and colleagues at other New=20
York sites followed 1,124 elderly women for 1 to 5 years. The group=20
studied was initially free of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease=20
and stroke.

Overall, the New York team observed that 15% of the women developed=20
Alzheimer's disease, which is "...expected in a group of women of this=20
age."=20

When Dr. Mayeux evaluated only the cohort of women who took estrogen=20
therapy for at least 10 years after menopause, he observed that "...a=20
history of oestrogen use during the postmenopausal period=20
significantly delay[ed] the onset of Alzheimer's disease and lower[ed]=20
the risk of disease."=20

In a related editorial, Drs. Alistair Burns and Declan Murphy of=20
Manchester and London, UK, respectively, reported that "...sex=20
steroids modify development and ageing..." in regions of the brain=20
that deteriorate in Alzheimer's. In addition, they point out that=20
"...oestrogen is an important co-factor in the actions of nerve growth=20
factors." These actions, they suggested, may underlie the mechanism of=20
protection against Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Mayeux calls for a prospective clinical trial that would involve=20
perimenopausal women.=20


Lancet 1996;348:429-432.

Copyright =A9 1996 Reuters Limited.

-------------------------------------------------------------

[log in to unmask]