ESTROGEN REPLACEMENT THERAPY AND LONGITUDINAL DECLINE IN VISUAL MEMORY - A POSSIBLE PROTECTIVE EFFECT

Estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) is increasingly recommended for pos tmenopausal women due to its beneficial effects on physical health in older women. Recent studies have suggested that ERT may have a protect ive effect on cognitive function and may reduce the risk of Alzheimer' s disease. In the present study we test the hypothesis that ERT may ha ve a protective effect on memory in nondemented women. Data on hormona l status and memory were examined in 288 postmenopausal women in the B altimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. One hundred sixteen women who re ported that they were receiving ERT during a cognitive assessment were compared with 172 women who had never received ERT. Women who were re ceiving ERT had fewer errors on the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT ), a measure of short-term visual memory, visual perception, and const ructional skills. Furthermore, ERT appeared to protect against age cha nges in BVRT performance in a subgroup of 18 women for whom BVRT data were available before and during treatment with ERT. These findings su ggest that ERT may protect against memory decline in nondemented postm enopausal women and offer further support for a beneficial role of est rogen on cognitive function in aging women.