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On average, menopause causes about 10 symptoms in those who experience it.
But 90% of us weren’t taught about the life stage in school, and less than half of us know how to manage its most common symptoms.
Tinnitus, lowered alcohol tolerance, and even vaginal ‘electric shocks’ are all lesser-known menopause side-effects.
Some recent research published in the medical journal PLOS One suggests that how strongly you feel menopause symptoms, and how many you have, might also reveal how at-risk you are for memory issues over time, too.
How might menopause symptoms be related to memory loss?
The study used health data from 896 participants, whose average age was 64.2 years old. They had started the menopause at a mean age of just under 50 years old.
The data came from an ongoing Canadian CAN-PROTECT study and researchers looked at how many symptoms participants reported they’d had during menopause.
Then, they tested the cognitive ability of the now mostly postmenopausal women.
They found that women who had reported more menopause symptoms had worse memory and cognitive ability as well as increased impulsivity, difficulties in social interactions, and apathy.
All of these have been linked to a higher risk of developing dementia.
This study didn’t seek to explain why that link might exist. It only shared the association.
Does that mean that having more menopause symptoms definitely means I’ll get dementia
No. This study only found a link, not a cause; that correlation was between memory loss, mild cognitive impairment, and mild behavioural impairment.
As Alzheimer’s Research UK’s director of research Dr Sheona Scales shared: “Although the results of this study suggest that people experiencing more menopause symptoms report having worse memory and behaviour changes in later life, this doesn’t mean that they went on to develop dementia.
“Dementia is caused by diseases in the brain, and while some studies suggest menopause could play a role in our brain health, we need more research to understand if and how this influences whether someone will develop dementia.”
However, the director of research added that seeing as two-thirds of people living with dementia in the UK are women, it’s crucial to get good data on why that might be.
If you are menopausal or perimenopausal and noticing any difficult symptoms, including memory loss, speak to your doctor.
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