A new study published in the prestigious British Medical Journal has found a startling link between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and drugs that were doled out like candy to unsuspecting women for decades.
Of course, this is just the latest culprit in a long list of known AD risk factors. So, it completely baffles me when I read a mainstream report that says we still don’t know what causes AD.
Because we do.
It’s just that most physicians won’t accept the science. Or, more likely, they’re just not caught up on the science. In fact, 90 percent of doctors say they don’t have time to read scientific journals.
Fortunately, as a subscriber to my Daily Dispatch e-letter and Insiders’ Cures newsletter, you get all of the most-important, cutting-edge science delivered directly to you. (If you’re not currently a subscriber to my monthly Insiders’ Cures newsletter, click here now!)
Now, let’s take a closer look at this new study…
Unsuspecting women on HRT given a life sentence of AD
Finnish scientists analyzed data for more than 84,000 women who were diagnosed with AD by neurologists and/or geriatricians between 1999 and 2013. Then, researchers matched the women with AD to a control group of more than 84,000 women who didn’t get the disease.
Overall, I was impressed with the study’s design. It was one of the largest studies on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and AD ever performed, and it used data from a well-known and reliable data registry.
Plus, the researchers confirmed HRT prescriptions and purchases by checking national drug registries. In addition, the diagnosis of AD met rigorous medical criteria, and there was a long period of follow-up observations.
So what did they find?
- 18 percent of the women with AD had used oral HRT drugs (either an estrogen/progestin combination or estradiol only).
- 17 percent of women had a higher risk of developing AD after taking an estrogen/progestin HRT drug.
- 9 percent of women had a higher risk of developing AD after taking an estradiol HRT drug.
The increased risk of HRT drugs wasn’t influenced by the age at which the women began taking the drugs. (Note: The women who used a topical estrogen in the vagina showed no increased risk.)
Overall, researchers estimate that for every 10,000 women between the ages of 70 to 80, nine to 18 cases of AD occur each year due to the use of HRT drugs.
This study directly contradicts the mainstream’s misguided assurances that HRT drugs are “safe.” And it certainly suggests that the recent surge in AD rates probably relate, at least in part, to the widespread use of HRT drugs in the 1980s and 1990s.
Just let Nature take its course
Ironically, many so-called experts still claim that HRT reduces the risk of AD—but that claim is based on outdated studies. Those old studies were poorly designed and even lacked a placebo control.
Plus, this isn’t the first time a study has uncovered a troubling link between AD and HRT…
Years ago, the placebo-controlled Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Memory Study reported that postmenopausal women who take estrogen had increased risk for impaired cognitive function and probable dementia. I actually helped start the WHI back in the mid-1980s, originally to study breast cancer. Then, other diseases were added onto the study throughout the years—now including dementia.
As I discussed yesterday, it’s far better to allow sex hormones to naturally decline as we get older. This decline protects men from prostate cancer, blood clots, heart attack, and heart failure. And it protects women from breast cancer.
Plus, there are natural approaches to dealing with declining sex hormone levels without resorting to dangerous drugs. (To learn more about these natural approaches, women can refer to the June 2015 issue of my Insiders’ Cures newsletter [“Forget useless bone scans! Two common menopause symptoms signal serious osteoporosis risk”]. And men can refer to my new comprehensive, science-backed Insider’s Ultimate Guide to Perfect Prostate Health.)
Of course, hormone replacement therapy isn’t the only contributing factor to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
In fact, there are a number of factors that can increase your risk. But researchers with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), found that following a dozen drug-free steps resulted in significant, sustained improvements in memory in nine out of 10 people with dementia.
This research is probably the single, biggest clinical research breakthrough on nutrition and dementia. And it inspired me to develop my own online learning protocol: The Complete Alzheimer’s Cure. It details natural medicine’s most cutting-edge treatments for Alzheimer’s and complete brain recovery.
Source:
“Use of postmenopausal hormone therapy and risk of Alzheimer’s disease in Finland: nationwide case-control study.” BMJ 2019;364:l665. doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l665