Testosterone Spray may Help Post-Menopausal Women Fight Dementia

A daily testosterone spray may help ward off dementia and memory loss in post-menopausal women, says a new Victorian research.

The pilot study, run by Monash University's Women's Health Program, has been described as "an exciting new lead" by head researcher Susan Davis.

What is Menopause?
Menopause is defined as the state of permanent cessation of menstrual cycles (periods) for 12-months.

"This is a new frontier. We were quite surprised by the results. It's cutting edge, a bit off the wall and provocative, but the results are as promising as they could be at this stage," she said.

The research by Professor Davis and Dr Sonia Davison will be presented this week at the North American Menopause Society's annual conference in San Diego, reports The Age.

To reach the conclusion, researchers gave ten healthy post-menopausal women aged 45 to 60 a daily skin spray of testosterone for six months.

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At the beginning and end of the treatment they had "functional MRI" brain scans while doing a computer-based test of their memory and visual and verbal skills.

The scans showed that in each case, their brains performed the test much more effortlessly after six months.

'Menopausal' Men may be Helped by Testosterone Therapy
Men with low libido may soon be able to derive benefits from testosterone therapy, as many international organisations have updated their guidelines regarding the use of supplements of this hormone.

"With testosterone treatment, less of the brain areas involved with these tasks 'lit up'," Professor Davis said.

"This indicates that less brain activation was required for the women to complete the tasks," she added.

World Alzheimer's Day – “Diagnosing Dementia: See It Sooner”
World Alzheimer's Day falls on September 21st, 2009, embodying the theme, 'Diagnosing Dementia: See It Sooner'.

Source-ANI
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