1999 Resident Poster Competition
Jamal Makhoul M.D.
Washington University
Early Estrogen Depravation: A Risk Factor for Dementia
To test our hypothesis that estrogen deficiency plays a role in modifying dementia expression in elderly women, we compared the severity of dementia ascertained by the Short Blessed Test (SBT) and the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR) in two groups of women with surgical Vs natural menopause.
The surgical menopause group (SM) had a current age of 79.64±6.4 yr. and mean menopausal age of 44.67±5.11 yr. (n=28) and the natural menopause group (NM) had a current age of 80.41±6.41 and mean menopause age of 50.50±5.05 (n=64). The two groups did not differ with respect to education (SM, 10.7yr. Vs NM, 10.7yr.).
Comparison of Dementia Severity:
Measure SM NM P
CDR 1.77±0.84 1.12±0.58 0.000
SBT 19.82±7.17 14.13±8.44 0.001
The results indicate that despite comparable ages and education, women with a SM had more severe or advanced dementia than women with a NM and suggest that estrogen deficiency associated with a hysterectomy may modify the expression of Alzheimer's disease.
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Alan D Forker, MD MACP
Missouri Chapter Governor
Patrick Mills
Missouri Chapter Executive Director
