For women maintaining their memory, care should be taken before menopause

While memory care is often an option for those suffering from degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, new research shows that there may be a dip that comes before the body undergoes changes as part of menopause.


Researchers at UCLA found that women who were between the age of 42 and 52 reported improvements on tests designed to gauge verbal memory, information processing and working memory until they reached the latter stages of perimenopause.

In the more than 2,000 women with whom they worked, the test improvements were only about one-third as high during that period, and only one-tenth as high in the period immediately before menopause.


"These perimenopausal test results concur with prior self-reported memory difficulties - 60 percent of women state that they have memory problems during the menopause transition," said Dr Gail Greendale at the facility.


The doctor recommended the use of estrogen replacement therapy during that period, as it showed promise in helping to reduce the cognition deterioration, an effect that did not last after the women entered full menopause.


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