Estrogen, Alzheimer’s Study To Be Launched

Scientists are launching a huge study of women to see if taking estrogen can delay Alzheimer’s disease.

About 8,000 women past menopause will take either estrogen or a dummy pill and will be monitored for six to nine years to see if the hormone makes any difference.

Prior studies have shown evidence of an effect, said lead investigator Sally Shumaker of the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Because some participants are expected to develop Alzheimer’s during the study, researchers also will investigate whether estrogen delays progression of the disease once it appears.

The $16 million study, which also will look for an effect on dementia in general, is being funded by Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, which makes estrogen tablets. It will be conducted in conjunction with the Women’s Health Initiative, a massive federal program studying prevention of major diseases of post-menopausal women.

The study will be carried out at sites around the country. Women ages 65 to 79 are being sought, whether or not they currently are taking estrogen.

Further information is available by calling (800) 54-WOMEN or contacting local chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association.