Reproductive lifespan and hormonal therapy in relation to later-life neurovascular health: A population-based study of women in the Gothenburg H70-1944 Birth Cohort.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Women face greater vulnerability to dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD), potentially due to estrogen fluctuations across the lifespan. However, its role in vascular brain health is unclear. We investigated associations between lifelong estrogen exposure-endogenous (reproductive span) and exogenous (oral contraceptives [OC], menopausal hormone therapy [MHT])-and late-life vascular brain injury, AD-related atrophy, and APOE-ε4 modification.

Methods and findings

We included 352 cognitively unimpaired 70-years-old women from the Gothenburg H70-1944 Birth Cohort with brain MRI and 5-year follow-up. Reproductive lifespan was calculated as age at menopause or oophorectomy minus age at menarche. OC and MHT use were self-reported. Outcomes included cerebral small

SUBMITTER: Lorenzon G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12889802 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature