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Signs Of Menopause Symptoms and Memory Loss

Memory loss among women is not related to the mood swings and hot flashes that come from the first signs of menopause symptoms. Memory loss from these symptoms of menopause is mostly a myth.

Researchers in Taiwan discovered that the symptoms of menopause are not a cause for memory impairment. They compared memory traits among hundreds of women long before they were even prone to early menopause symptoms to their memory capacity after they entered menopause.

In five different cognitive function tests, women who were undergoing menopause symptoms scored as well or almost as well as they did in earlier trials. It exonerated menopause as a reason for impairing memory recall.

These results are to be presented at the annual meeting in Toronto of the American Neurological Association and they are rather conclusive. Dr. Jong-Ling Fuh who is an associate professor at the Yang-Ming University School of Medicine announced that women who go into perimenopause or show early menopause symptoms don't need to be concerned about cognitive decline.

Those Who Experienced Early Menopause Symptoms And Memory Loss

Memory loss during menopause is a myth. It is a prejudice some women hold about themselves because they experienced menopause. They concluded that their ability to recall had been impaired, and they spread the word.

Some studies suggested that hormone replacement therapy could protect against this dementia. It further strengthened the belief among women. A larger study later discovered that older women undergoing hormone replacement therapy could find an increased risk for this type of symptom.

In trying to determine whether menopause does indeed have an effect on memory loss, Futh and her colleagues did a study on nearly 700 premonopausal women who were living in rural islands where treatments and medicine are minimal. The government itself aided the effort by prohibiting entry to these islands until the 1990s. The researchers were able to do clinical analysis on a nearly homogeneous population. Other potential causes of memory loss could therefore be ruled out.

The women in the study group were between 40 and 54. None of them underwent hormone replacement therapy during the study. And none of them had undergone a hysterectomy. Before the start of the study, they all went through five cognitive tests that measured their cognitive and memory skills. Then the process was repeated 18 months later. Very importantly, 23 percent of the women in the group began to undergo signs of menopause symptoms.

They then tested the memory capacity of the women who were in menopause against those who had not. They found very little difference. In four of five tests, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups. According to Fuh, in the one single test that showed a statistically significant difference the gap was slight.

The tests that were designed to evaluate verbal memory showed women 70 nonsensical drawings. Some drawings were repeated during the test, but most weren't. The question was simple: did they remember seeing the drawing earlier.

There's No Need To Fear The First Signs Of Menopause Symptoms

Dr. Raina Ernstoff of William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI, states that menopause in women does not mean they'll develop memory loss. The problem may be that perimenopause brings about hot flashes which make a woman feel irritated and suffer lack of sleep. Combined these factors can temporarily inhibit cognitive skills.

Obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Steven Goldstein of New York University Medical Center agrees that lower levels of estrogen do not cause memory loss. Memory is not like bone density. It doesn't just take a sudden dip because of a single factor.

Both Ernstoff and Goldstein agreed that the tests done on a homogeneous group in Taiwan may not necessarily be extrapolated to women living in an industrialized society. Nevertheless, they don't know of many women who feel they've lost their memory capacity because of the symptoms of menopause.

If there was memory loss in women undergoing symptoms of menopause, then it could be more related to other factors such as hypertension which can contribute to vascular dementia.

Another factor is education. Whether or not a woman has trained her mind to be sharp-witted because of education and from career choices could be a determining factor on cognitive skills in later life. Fuh's researchers attempted to take this into consideration and made efforts to control the data for educational differences.

The previous article is on Symptoms of Menopause.

Other wiki resources: menopause symptoms, symptoms of menopause, signs of menopause, early menopause symptoms, pre menopause symptoms, health and menopause