Exercise averts mental decline due to HRT

Exercising regularly might prevent the mental decline associated with the long-term use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Researchers from the University of Illinois in USA conducted a study of 54 postmenopausal women and found that long-term HRT use of more than 10 years was linked with poorer scores on a standard test of mental acuity. However, physical fitness appeared to counter this effect. A recent research in animals and humans has suggested that short-term oestrogen replacement may help thwart age-related mental decline, long-term HRT use may have the opposite effect. In the current study, researchers looked at whether women's fitness levels made a difference in the brain effects of HRT. The researching team collected information on HRT use and used MRI scans to measure tissue volume in several key brain areas. Women also took a standard test of memory and mental agility, as well as a treadmill test to gauge their cardiovascular fitness. Overall, the researchers found that short-term HRT use up to 10 years was associated with greater brain tissue volume and better test scores. And higher fitness levels appeared to augment this benefit. Longer-term HRT use, in contrast, was linked to lower brain tissue volume and poorer test scores. However, physical fitness seemed to offset this effect. It may be that a combination of HRT and exercise boosts both cognition and brain structure of older women. It's not clear why exercise and short-term, but not long-range, HRT may be beneficial to the aging brain. Both oestrogen and physical activity stimulate a substance called brain-derived neurotropic factor, which is involved in the production of brain cells and blood vessels. Whatever the reasons for the findings, the researchers conclude that they do demonstrate that brain atrophy is not an inevitable consequence of aging and there may be several ways such as exercise, a healthful diet or staying mentally active - that can slow or stop the process.