Investigating links between white matter hyperintensities and menopausal status using robust age-correction methods in UK Biobank.

ABSTRACT: White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are radiological abnormalities indicative of cerebrovascular dysfunction associated with increased risk for cognitive decline. WMHs increase in prevalence with older age, and there are known sex differences as older women harbour higher WMH burden than men. Some have hypothesized that the increase in this dementia-related risk factor is related to the menopausal transition. To untangle the effects of age and menopause, we leveraged a large cross-sectional sample of women from the UK Biobank (n = 9560) to investigate differences in WMH volumes across menopausal status using a strict age-matching procedure. Surprisingly, we find higher WMH volumes in premenopausal women compared to postmenopausal women in certain analysis schemes, especially as com

SUBMITTER: Wezel D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12715771 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature