Women: Taking testosterone may boost your memory and help avoid dementia
Courtesy of dailymail.co.uk
By
Pat Hagan
Giving women the male hormone testosterone could boost their memory and may even help ward off dementia.
New
research shows women who rubbed testosterone gel on their skin every
day for six months performed better in brain function tests than those
who were given a dummy gel.
Researchers tested the treatment on a group of 96 healthy post-menopausal women.
The
hormone group performed significantly better at verbal learning, where
they listened to dozens of different words and had to recall as many as
they could.
They also scored higher in tests designed to assess the efficiency of their short-term memory.
Boosting
brain function is thought to be one of the most effective ways of
warding off dementia, as it helps strengthen connections between brain
cells.
Experts advise doing this through a healthy diet, regular exercise and 'brain training' routines such as crosswords and puzzles.
But
the latest research, carried out at Monash University in Australia,
suggests women may also benefit from a daily dose of testosterone gel.
Women are twice as likely as men to get Alzheimer's, although researchers are still unsure why.
However, falling testosterone levels are now being considered.
Although testosterone is
considered to be a male hormone, women produce small amounts in their
ovaries. When they reach the menopause, testosterone production
declines.
Some research
suggests this causes a reduced libido in many women and that their sex
drive may benefit from testosterone replacement therapy - such as gels
or skin patches.
But the hormone has also been linked to brain function
A 2010 study at St Louis University
in the U.S. found older men with depleted hormone levels were more
likely to develop the brain-wasting disease. The Australian team behind
the new research focused on whether women too might benefit.
Those
in the trial, with an average age of 61, rubbed either a hormone gel or
placebo gel on to the arms, shoulders or tummy every day for six
months.
The women had their
memory tested before and after the experiment, and the treatment group
showed a significant improvement while there was no change in the
placebo group. Blood tests also showed an increase in testosterone
levels in the treatment group.
The results were presented at a recent conference but have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Commenting
on the trial, Dr Simon Ridley, head of research at Alzheimer's Research
UK, welcomed the study but warned: 'We will need to wait for these
findings to be peer-reviewed and published before we can evaluate what
they could mean for people with dementia.'
Jess
Smith from the Alzheimer's Society stressed that it's not certain that
improved brain function scores actually translate into a reduced risk of
dementia.
But she added: 'This small study indicates a possible future avenue for research into memory loss in women.'
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