Study: Menopausal memory loss is a myth

A study in Taiwan has discounted the popular belief women suddenly start to lose their memory when menopause begins.

Study leader Dr. Jong-Ling Fuh, of Taipei Veterans General Hospital recruited 694 pre-menopausal women, aged 40 to 54, and assessed their memory at baseline and 18 months later. At the follow-up, researchers found 23 percent of the 495 remaining eligible women who had not had a hysterectomy or hormone replacement therapy had entered menopause.

With the exception of one test, these women scored similarly on various memory tests to the women who had not yet entered menopause. The exception was a test of verbal memory, which involved the sequential presentation of 70 nonsensical figures, several of which were repeated during the test. The subjects were asked whether the figures had been seen before or not.

"Since menopause is apparently not accompanied by a significant decline in most cognitive abilities, it might not be helpful for women to use estrogen or progesterone in order to improve their memory during this period," said Fuh.

The study was presented Monday in Toronto at 129th annual meeting of the American Neurological Association.

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