Earlier menopause combined with higher risk of cardiovascular disease is linked to an increased risk of thinking and memory problems later, according to a new study published in the April 3, 2024, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. In this study, earlier menopause is defined as occurring before age 49.
The study involved 8,360 female participants and 8,360 male participants matched for age who were enrolled in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Female participants had an average age at menopause of 50. All participants had an average age of 65 at the start of the study and were followed for three years.
Researchers divided female participants into three groups: those who experienced earlier menopause between ages 35 and 48; average menopause between ages 49 and 52; and later menopause between ages 53 and 65. Researchers also looked at whether they had used hormone therapy containing estrogens.
For all participants, researchers reviewed six cardiovascular risk factors: high LDL cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, smoking, high blood pressure, as well as prescriptions for medications to lower blood pressure.
Participants were given a series of thinking and memory tests at the start and the end of the study. Researchers calculated cognitive scores for each person.
Researchers then examined the associations of cardiovascular risk with cognitive scores in female participants in the three groups and compared them to the same association in male participants.
After adjusting for factors such as age and education, researchers found that female participants with both earlier menopause and higher cardiovascular risk had lower cognitive scores three years later. For each one standard deviation increase in cardiovascular risk score, female participants with earlier menopause showed a 0.044 standard deviation decrease in cognitive scores, compared to male participants in the same age group who showed a 0.035 standard deviation decrease in cognitive scores.
Researchers did not find a similar association for female participants with average or later menopause. Hormone therapy did not affect the results.
